What Separates Apple from the Rest

I am amazed each day as I watch companies announce their latest iPhone or iPad Killer – the old proverbial skating to where the puck is.  Meanwhile Apple continues to skate to where the puck will be.  When I saw this article, Apple Positioned to Introduce Connected HDTV within 2-4 years, I said there they go again.

One day Steve Jobs may shed some insight into Apple’s secret sauce – surround yourself with smart people, go with your gut, yada, yada, yada.  In the mean time, I think Wired.com cracked the code in the article “How the Tablet Will Change the World.” To me the following says it all,

Apple all but announced that the iPad could damage its own desktop and laptop business, but Microsoft never seems to put all its weight behind groundbreaking products — especially if success may come at the expense of its Windows and Office cash cows.

Obsolescence comes with the territory: Mainframe Computer -> Mini Computer -> Personal Computer -> Mobile Computer. Steve Jobs understands this better than many, but more importantly – he acts on it faster than most.