Comment by awesome_dude

Before iPods and iPhones, people thought that those spaces were "solved" and there was no room for "innovation"

mp3 players were commodity items, you could buy one for a couple of dollars, fill it up with your favourite music format (stolen) and off you went.

Phones too - Crackberry was the epitome of sophistication, and technological excellence.

Jobs/Apple didn't create anything "new" in those spheres, instead he added desireability, fancy UX that caught peoples' attentions