iPad Success or Computer Industry Failure?

I'm old enough to remember when Apple products were on the fringe of the industry; no one cared except a devoted few. The iMac, iPod and iPhone changed all that over the last 15 years.

Where are the rest of the computer industry's innovators? Why does everyone wait for the next big thing from Apple? Because there's no one else. Microsoft and HP and the others can't seem to do anything but copy each other.

The sad thing is that this pattern has repeated itself in the domestic car companies as well. We see a few glimmerings of hope with new models from GM and Ford, but my hopes for Chrysler are fading fast.

We know Japan and Korea are superb at copying existing technology, especially hardware, and making it better. But there's no originality there.

The good news is that the United States is still the world's supplier of most of the entertainment content. And without the content, devices like the iPad are just empty shells. Let's hope that other U.S. technology companies will join Apple in innovation and show the rest of the world we still have what it takes to be leaders.