We have imagination, a faculty that enables us to think of something that is not immediately present, and that, when we firstconceive it, has no objective existence.
Perhaps the company's " problems" in Europe and the lackluster reception towards the current iteration of Zune -- hence the focus on Zune's primary innovation, WiFi -- have calmed Gates, or maybe the iPod franchise has grown so huge that even its main competitors can't conceive of aiming for first place.