Counternotions:

Suppose you were the CEO of Apple in 2005 when a couple of intergalactic visitors with time-warping technology offered you this bet:Design and manufacture a small mobile device that seamlessly combines the functionalities of a cellular phone, a web surfer, an audio/video player and a small PC, and your company will double its market cap and establish a third mass-market computing platform after Windows and Macintosh.Would you take it?Before you say, “Are you nuts, why wouldn’t I?” ponder just a few of the issues involved.

Reading his analysis of the issues Apple faced back in 2005 makes it even more remarkable that Apple “bet the company” on the iPhone.