First gen iPhone was a big deal because they put all resources into providing the one or two things all the others sucked at: a smoother and more user-friendly interface and a more pleasant mobile web browser.

But it wasn't until the second or third gen that people coming over from previous smartphones could really get most of those things we took for granted already. If you were coming from a flip phone you were just adding some cool stuff. But if you had become accustomed to the typical features of a smart phone, you had to choose between smooth scrolling and pinch/zoom on a nice capacitive screen and being able to install software, stream music (in the background no less), get live navigation in the car, and operate on the latest high(er) speed networks.

I don't think the new Macbook has nearly as far to go as the first iPhone did. They'll iterate with faster processors, a better GPU, and maybe an extra port next round.

The Model T, released today, would be a joke. But a century ago, the idea of an automobile rather than horses was a tremendous advance.

I mean, the state of the art in smart phones in the US at the time was an HTC 2125...