A decade ago Apple launched the iPod with the slogan “1,000 songs in your pocket”. The claim encapsulated seamless integration of content and delivery. The launch of the iPod mattered not just for what it did, but for what it implied for the future. The age of the personal computer was ending, giving way to an era in which a single handheld device would be the gateway to every service that could be delivered electronically.

So why didn’t Sony do it? The company created the Walkman, the analogue predecessor to the iPod. For a generation, Sony was the world’s most successful consumer electronics company. It developed a vision of integration of devices and content long before Apple dreamt of going into the music business. The route Sony followed was acquisition. In 1987, Sony bought CBS records. Two years later the company purchased Columbia Pictures.

Sony had seen the future. And it worked, but not for them. Apple went on to dominate the new markets, transforming itself from a computer company into both a leading consumer electronics company and a major retailer. Sony didn’t even come close. (In his biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson recounts a discussion with the Apple founder on this issue. )