[Synaesthesia]

The iPod was way ahead in terms of thickness, simplicity and battery life. Things that mattered. At the time it was a technical marvel, competing hard disk players were huge and clunky EG Creative nomad.

The iPhone was way ahead of Nokia Symbian phones in power of its web browser, display, touch sensitivity etc.

[altcognito]

Totally agree with this. It's not that Apple did anything in particular, it's that they bring together the best of everything in a single device. Honestly, this has been their mode of operation from the beginning. They have decent vision but, at least under Jobs, execution is generally flawless.