The article also casually throws out the iPod as an example where copying didn't hurt, when Apple was actually intensely protective of the main interface element, the click-wheel. Successfully defending that made also-ran mp3 players seem somewhat alien/weird. If anything, the success of the iPod emboldened them to continue this strategy.
The iPod won because competitors took too long to take the iPod seriously, and then too long to identify why it was successful.
By the time competitors managed to make competitive products, Apple had the iTunes Store and perhaps the most brilliant and long-lasting marketing campaign of a technology product, ever.
