AutoCAD did run on the original 68000 series macs, for one release, and then it was pulled from the market... I used the wiki article as it was easy to access and lumped the data in one quick location.
BTW I can believe the comment re AutoCAD and wiki was written by someone born in the '80s... I did a phone interview at one time several years ago for a position that required ACAD use... when asked how long I had been using it, I mentioned back in the DOS days in the '80s... the interviewer took that as a lie and stated AutoCAD had not been around that long. I knew then that she had not been around that long... LOL.

As for ATT and the iphone... the thing is, smart phones had existed previously... Apple didn't bring new technology, they brought a new look, a new OS, and their marketing.

Palm had smartphones designed with Qualcomm, that had touch screens, and operated quite well, and were on both Verizon and Sprint, but looked clunky and did not have a well integrated OS. Apples's OS is superior. Let me repeat that so you can quote it to me again... Apples OS IS superior. It is the hardware we are debating... the internal guts are nothing special... merely overpriced. The ipod too was seriously overpriced... but with itunes it was somewhat difficult for consumers to say no... in spite of cheaper MP3 players with integrated FM radios (that apple has only recently introduced)... but without that apple OS and marketing... so the likes of Zune for instance died...

Apple violated ATT and Verizon specs by not allowing access to battery, no expandable memory, and by controlling the OS in ways that neither carrier would allow with any other vendor... but they also brought the strength of marketing with the ipod and itunes which were a hit with the public. About the only new tech apple brought was the inclusion of accelerometers. Now the iphone 4S has brought plain speaking instructions... again a software upgrade... nothing new in the area of hardware... in fact the 4S is technologically behind by not being LTE. But hey, what does Apple care... the consumer will follow that bouncing fruit anywhere. (they are hooked)

You are right, apple does not write the apps for the iphone... they only carefully control the distribution... and this has been the subject of debates even with the fed http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/195562/feds_threaten_apples_control_of_iphone_and_ipad.html

Of course we also know that microsoft has tried to control their OS in a way that riled the fed... so this is not an apple exclusive... but apple's control of the apps and distribution is somewhat onerous. Some folks like that, others think it intrusive... the article above contrasts apple to microsoft and then suggests that hey, if they can get away with it, all the better. And apple is serious about this. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100412/0850488972.shtml

But as far as better parts inside... nah... it's basically the same stuff... with a fancy logo on the front. Sort of like buying Levis 501s at Nordstroms or Sears... $74 at Nordies... $48 at Sears... same cotton, same buttons; much higher price... Just like Apple.

Buy Apple if you want, just understand what you are really paying for.

Oh, for the sake of full disclosure, my family owns several ipods, and an ipad2, and I used to work as a technician on a college campus repairing all computers... PC and Mac alike. (and UNIX based mainframes... but that is a different beast altogether). These days I am a design engineer designing wireless products... and due to the apple influence, we see the demand for touch screens everywhere... and what a headache... simple products became that much more expensive, just to support touch screens... no more one button and a light to say "it's on."