So the iPod, or more to the point, the digital music player, was invented by a now unemployed furniture salesman.

Kane Kramer, took out a worldwide patent in 1979 when he was in his late 20’s for a media player that looked (at a stretch) similar to today’s iPod. Kramer theorised that the concept player could store only 3.5 minutes of music using the day’s technology. He dubbed it the IXI and planned to expand its capacity as technology advanced.

Jobs and Co have acknowledged Kramer’s achievement only in that they used him as a witness and consultant after patent holding company Burst sued Apple, claiming the iPod infringed on its own patents. As Kramer registered the original patent in 1979 he was proved to be the iPod’s inventor and Burst’s case was found to be groundless.

To date Kramer has only been paid for his consultancy fees during the Burst court case. As he allowed the patent to expire in the 80s due to his lack of funds to renew it, Kramer now has no legal claim over the iPod patent.

Lets not forget that Leonardo Da Vinci invented the tank, the mechanical clock, the helicopter and the aeroplane long before the Wrights got fixed wing flying machines off the ground. The man was thinking way beyond his time, and there is no doubting that he was extraordinarily talented, but he didn’t build these contraptions. The technology of the time wasn’t as advanced as his ideas.

Taking something from a concept and making it real is the big achievement. I wonder who it was that said, if the technology isn’t there yet, perhaps we need to get it there.

Who builds the building blocks so that people can not just conceive these ideas, but actually realise them?

For example, who invented flash memory or the hard drive? These are the real pioneers.