>I think the mainstream popularity of smartphones was inevitable
I don't. I'm not a fan of Apple, but they really transformed our conception of a smartphone and made them a desirable device for the mass market. As I'm sure you know, early versions of Android looked nothing like it did once the iPhone was revealed. Even relatively modern smartphone platforms like WebOS completely failed to resonate with the public.
You're forgetting that Nokia (and a few others) managed to sell a few hundred million iPhone-uninfluenced Symbian devices before that platform was flattened by Android. That's plenty of evidence that the mass market already wanted smarter devices iPhone or no iPhone.
I don't. I'm not a fan of Apple, but they really transformed our conception of a smartphone and made them a desirable device for the mass market. As I'm sure you know, early versions of Android looked nothing like it did once the iPhone was revealed. Even relatively modern smartphone platforms like WebOS completely failed to resonate with the public.