I was thinking more in terms of the product than these particular guys, who were wise in all of the products they decided not to bring to market.
What I am trying to express poorly is that you can't look at the success of a particular new technology and say "if it weren't for that implementation, nobody would have built it or brought it to market". If it weren't for the Wright Bros. someone else would have had powered controlled flight. If the DropBbox guys hadn't made a successful online filesystem, someone else would have (successfully) filled that niche eventually.
What I am trying to express poorly is that you can't look at the success of a particular new technology and say "if it weren't for that implementation, nobody would have built it or brought it to market". If it weren't for the Wright Bros. someone else would have had powered controlled flight. If the DropBbox guys hadn't made a successful online filesystem, someone else would have (successfully) filled that niche eventually.