What Apple did: One of the great modern pioneers of multitouch technologies was a company named Fingerworks, founded in 1998. They manufactured multitouch input devices like keyboards and “gesture pads.” Probably sensing the potential in blending multitouch technology and display screens, Steve Jobs had Apple purchase Fingerworks in 2005. The first product to come out of this innovation was the original iPhone. Apple has gone on to make multitouch displays a cornerstone of its “post-PC” devices. By the way… Seven years after that acquisition, the two men who founded Fingerworks are still senior engineers at Apple.