Who the hell is I Cringely? Some fanboi, no doubt. When a company has insanely lucrative profit margins, as Apple so famously does - something would be wrong if they didn't acquire obscene profits. How this is good news for consumers, or signifies that Apple is somehow more "innovative" than any other company, is baffling to me.
"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
Of course you are referring to Steve Jobs' famous, well documented visit to Xerox Parc in 1979 where he saw the first GUI and mouse, which are very well documented as being Xerox innovations. The first Mac debuted in 1984.
Apple really hasn't innovated anything since the original Apple II, if you think about it. Other companies were making GUIs, mp3 players, cell phones, laptops and tablet computers before them.
Apple's key to success is marketing, pure and simple. If that sort of thing impresses you, so be it. Everything else is debatable.
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Audiophile: "A gate IS a compressor, A Fader is a MANUAL compressor." Pure comedy.