>> ...Ive told the Times that the key to the iPod wasn't sudden flashes of genius, but the design process. His design group collaborated closely with manufacturers and engineers, constantly tweaking and refining the design. ''It's not serial,'' he told the Times. ''It's not one person passing something on to the next.''...

Perhaps this and the rest of the article provides some insight into pg's question about Apple's culture: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1596767