Actually, I shouldn't blame the guy too much, except from the fact that he is getting paid to state opinions at Bloomberg, so he should be way more careful in the future.
I was sure the iPhone would be disruptive and the 6 month-early presentation (if I recall correctly) was enough to show an interface that was like 30 years ahead of Symbian.
That said, I was plain wrong on the iPad... It was way more disruptive than I initially thought. But to me, creating content is important, that's why a tablet would always lack something for me. But others apparently appreciate the intuitive interface and ease of use in every day life.
The Sony Ericsson P800 is probably the best-remembered in this category. (I think I read somewhere that Steve Jobs once mentioned the P800 as an inspiration for the iPhone -- basically he told his staff: "Let's do this kind of device, but better.")
Anyway, the Symbian touchscreen devices were more like Pocket PCs than iPhones. They didn't really manage to break out of the desktop UI mold.
Apple was the first with capacitive multitouch. They also invented the modern mobile web browsing experience, where the window size is separated from the viewport and you can zoom/pan around with realtime feedback. This seems obvious now, but think back to what it was like to use the mobile web in 2006...
I was sure the iPhone would be disruptive and the 6 month-early presentation (if I recall correctly) was enough to show an interface that was like 30 years ahead of Symbian.
That said, I was plain wrong on the iPad... It was way more disruptive than I initially thought. But to me, creating content is important, that's why a tablet would always lack something for me. But others apparently appreciate the intuitive interface and ease of use in every day life.