Comment by toyg

> The iMac had a design unlike any desktop computer before it.

Debatable, but it was still just a personal computer - sure, refined in exterior, but inside it was still just a workstation.

> AirPort was the first affordable, mass-market consumer Wi-Fi router.

Absolutely not. There were plenty already on the market. Was it the first one to have a name, rather than some crappy codename? Maybe. But mostly it was the polished version of an existing product.

> The iPod was the first MP3 player to incorporate the then brand new 1.8" Toshiba hard drives

It was still an MP3 player, there were already loads on the market - some even with similar capacity. It was refined in UI, yes.

> most people would see as much more than "refinements"

Most people with no knowledge of the market, maybe. Everyone in the space marvelled at the skills Apple displayed in taking existing products, refining them, and selling them like they were the first-ever products in those segments. That's when the "reality distortion field" was first described.

This is also why, multiple times, established players failed to understand these products would succeed - see the famous quips about the Zune and later the iPhone. Everyone knew those products existed already, they just did not grasp how Apple's knack for polishing (and marketing) could make such a big difference.