"Additionally, I think Jason assumes that industrial design and software design are mutually exclusive. He ignores that part of the beauty of Apple's products is the interaction and combination of software AND hardware and the quality of interaction between them."
I'm not ignoring any of these things. I'm simply suggesting that one of Apple's key first impression advantages - their unique hardware design - is a bit less powerful as all the hardware designs in the industry trend towards a slab of glass.
Understood; however, I would argue that consumers (ignoring early adopters) don't look at the parts individually.
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
IMO Apple won't cease to be the leader in hardware design. Even as things trend toward being all glass, they will still find innovative ways to create beautiful products that bring together all of their competitive advantages. Example: iPhone 4
I'm not ignoring any of these things. I'm simply suggesting that one of Apple's key first impression advantages - their unique hardware design - is a bit less powerful as all the hardware designs in the industry trend towards a slab of glass.