Why don't you just buy a competing product then?
That's is a VERY good question, and it leads me, into one of my biggest gripes actually and makes me so annoyed, and yet I understand why it happens.
Apple makes 1 product lets say.
apple have some very, and I mean VERY loyal fans, who will buy almost anything. (that's another debate!) lol
Other brands initially try a little design here and there, and see this 1 Apple product selling in millions to their devoted customers.
Quite naturally, the management of these other companies see this profit and success and want some of this cake for themselves.
They see this 1 design from Apple, and think wow, so this is the design that selling. So to a greater of lesser extent they end up mimicking this device (to varying degrees) as to them, THATS the design that's selling.
Now, from a business / manager / corporate point of view, I totally get why this happens and why they do it.
But Apple's overwhelming success in the marketplace, does I'm so sad to say, to varying levels of extent kill other designs from happening.
We know this is true.
I can Guarantee you 100% if the iPad was 16:9 from day one, and Steve jobs made MAJOR play of this point and sold it as an Amazing media device for movies and games, and went on and on about it's front facing stereo speaker for amazing sound in games and video, and also how top spec the camera was from day one, and all the video editing in widescreen that could be done with it.
If he HAD done that, everyone here would see the device differently AND love it, AND more importantly other products from other brands would all be VERY different from how they are today.
It's not what Apple does that annoys me, heck they can do whatever they want. It's the influence that stops other product from happening that annoys me.
And yet I understand why this happens. Others want to make money, but it does not make it any easier to accept.