The thing I'm finding interesting about this: There are a whole world of devices that could have had essentially the same effect if they could have attracted this much attention. Somehow though, it seems like Apple's brand manages to get everyone on board, both consumer and developer.

I'm not being dismissive. Apple's brand seems like a great tool for moving the industry forward. Changing the way people use computers requires both consumers and developers to agree that this is a platform worth investing in, and Apple consistently pulls that off.

What other company could have convinced the entire industry that they needed to port some version of their product to a new proprietary platform?