[timetopay]

> Apple's biggest successes have come from being the first mover in a brand new space.

I would say that only one of the examples you gave was unambiguously the first mover in a brand new space. I will give you "category defining", though.

For example, the iPod had tons of competitors already in the field when it launched.

Airpods were not even close to the first wireless earbuds.

One of the Apple Watch's major competitors (fitbit) launched 8 years prior. The first smartwatch that could sync with a computer came out in the 80s.

The iPad came like a decade after Microsoft's first major tablet push. ATT and Sony/Magicap and Apple all released "smart tablets" in the early 90s.

The iPhone was not the first capacitive touch screen smartphone, and certainly not the first smartphone - over a decade late to that game.

The Macintosh was (sort of) a sequel to Apple's own Lisa, which itself was also not a first mover. The Mac was incredibly innovative and successful, but was preceded by the LISA, PERQ, Alto, various Lisp Machines.

> In fact Apple is terrible at throwing its hat into an already crowded space, and doubly so when it comes to software.

Couldn't be farther from the truth.

[chucke1992]

iPhone has basically defined a category of mutli-touch screen devices. It essentially created the whole foundation how all the mobile phones went. It was a completely new consumer category of devices.

Apple Watch was a success because it used iPhone as a moat. iPad was built upon iPhone's foundation.

Apple is - by and large - "an iPhone company".

[xcv123]

> It essentially created the whole foundation how all the mobile phones went. It was a completely new consumer category of devices.

I was already using smart phones, handhelds, tablets, etc, for years before the iPhone. Apple entered an existing category.

The iPhone wasn't even the first capacitive touchscreen phone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada

Back in 2007 it was not seen as a completely new category or truly original. It was a variation within an existing category. At the time we did not think it was revolutionary, but of course it became the new standard.

Before they became an "iPhone company" they were an "iPod company", and that was also an existing category when it launched.

[albedoa]

> The iPad came like a decade after Microsoft's first major tablet push.

Wow, you really got their asses. Who could forget Microsoft's first major tablet push.

[timetopay]

You're right, it was closer to two decades prior. My bad.