[oblio]

Yes, just like:

* PCs (how are Altair and Commodore doing? also Apple ultimately lost the desktop battle until they managed to attack it from the iPod and iPhone angle)

* search engines (Altavista, Excite, etc)

* social networks (Friendster, MySpace, Orkut)

* smartphones (Nokia, all Windows CE devices, Blackberry, etc)

The list is endless. First mover advantage is strong but overrated. Apple has been building a huge business based on watching what others do and building a better product market fit.

[jonas21]

Yes, exactly! These are all examples of markets where a handful of winners (or sometimes only one) have emerged by investing large amounts of money in developing the technology, leaving everyone else behind.