iPod inventor steps down

Apple's resurgence owes much to Tony Fadell's vision and determination and his departure is a pointer to the future.

In the late '90s he came up with the idea of combining a handheld music player with an online music store and started his own company to promote it. Failing to get funding, he took it to RealNetworks - but left after six weeks. So he took it to Apple and just ten months later the iPod was launched.

Fadell rose to lead the iPod division, but his departure is unlikely to hurt Apple - the company is famous for not relying on individuals talents and he will stay as an advisor to CEO Jobs. 

As a sign of the future, he's being replaced by an chip expert not a design or consumer person: there's little more scope to improve the iPod / iPhone form factor so progress is likely to focus on the internals - hardware and software.

Handheld devices have reached the 'wristwatch' moment - as they in the 1880s reached their current size and shape, and then improved only in functionality.