The way I see it is that Apple isn't claiming ownership of the technologies they combined, but rather they are taking offense to somebody copying them and not only failing to make it better, but making it a half-assed copy.
Take a WinMo6 Smartphone, WinMo PocketPC, PalmPilot, Newton 2000, Blackberry (traditional, not the Storm), WinPho7, webOS, iOS, and Android device.
Lay them out next to each other. Then arrange them into groups or spectrum based on how similar they are.
What do you get?
If you've owned all these devices at some point in time, (and with the exception of the WinPho7 device, I have) you'll end up with the following:
1) pager slab devices (WinMo6 Smartphone, traditional Blackberry) The pre-iPhone Android protos would go in this category too.
2) stylus-based PDAs (Palm, Newton, PocketPC)
3) multitouch touchscreen devices (WinPho7, webOS, iOS, modern Android)
There's actually one more category between 2 and 3 which would be the transitional devices. Single-touch like resistive, but using capacitive screens. LG Prada, and a whole boatload of touchscreen feature phones fit in here.
Why do these categories matter? Because they fundamentally dictate the way that a person uses the device. Fanbois on both sides shout out "yeah but xyz copied ijk from insert-some-picture-here," but neglect that in most cases, the device screenshot they're showing is superficially related to some point they're actually failing to make.
In my opinion, Steve's problem is this: Apple established the multitouch touchscreen mobile device category by creating their own design, partly evolved from the Newton and partly brand new. Palm released their contender, webOS, by evolving from the PalmPilot and bringing in new ideas. And Google, started with a platform which was a copy of the Blackberry category, simply started making it into a copy of iOS instead of making a unique and innovative platform.
For those who've seen a broad spectrum of mobile device history, it was clear that Android has no originality and on top of that, it's a half-assed copy. That is why Steve was angry.
Had Google released something like webOS or WinPhone7, I doubt Steve would have been pissed. He'd probably be pretty pleased because both the webOS and WinPhone7 platforms take the multitouch mobile device concept and improve on it in some new way.
If anybody here gets the chance to pick up a WinPhone7 device and play with it, I highly recommend it.
Even go out to an AT&T store just to try it. You will learn one of two things:
1) You'll find that it's unique and interesting. You'll have a certain appreciation for how different it feels compared to other devices of the category. Whether you actually like the device or not is unimportant. Hell, you might even hate it and think it's the ugliest thing ever. What is important is that despite being totally hosed in the market, that Microsoft took the time and effort to bring out something unique.
2) Or you'll be completely uninterested, thereby learning that you have no industrial design sense whatsoever.