In a naïve sense, there is a bit of Zen philosophy in it. As you say, other companies obsess and work extremely hard to design products that are ultimately worse; what of the paradox that extreme effort results in a poor result? Why, that's one of the tenets of Zen.
At the same time, while reducing certain parts to a paradoxical simplicity, Apple knows where the effort should be directed: at building systems. Getting to the root of problems and optimizing them away. Asking the question, what is the core from which all of this grows? What is its form? And working diligently on that, trusting that the output will be pure because of it. That's how quality is done; it's why the Japanese so readily accepted the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, and it's fundamentally how Jobs turned Apple around.
Lots of lessons here, the most important of which are not technological in the slightest.
At the same time, while reducing certain parts to a paradoxical simplicity, Apple knows where the effort should be directed: at building systems. Getting to the root of problems and optimizing them away. Asking the question, what is the core from which all of this grows? What is its form? And working diligently on that, trusting that the output will be pure because of it. That's how quality is done; it's why the Japanese so readily accepted the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, and it's fundamentally how Jobs turned Apple around.
Lots of lessons here, the most important of which are not technological in the slightest.
Recommended reading:
Zen in the Art of Archery: http://rum1.aarch.dk/uploads/media/Eugen_Herrigel-Zen_in_the...
The Zen of Steve Jobs: http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/the-zen-of-steve-j...
A Short intro to the teachings of W. Edwards Deming: https://shrikale.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/a-short-introducti...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming