Though I believe smartphones are a net negative for the world, I remember in 2007 when the iPhone was released the most common conclusion that I saw online was that the Steve Jobs demo of the iPhone was fake, as no such device was possible.

This was the received wisdom, though now, as with most things that happened but to most people “never happened,” hardly anyone recalls it.

For all of Apple’s flaws, saying that they don’t create innovative products — well, they are one of the few companies you can’t actually say that about.

Though to be fair, like nearly every tech company, they relied 80% on government-funded research and development to achieve anything at all.