I respectfully disagree. Tech is unlike any other industry in the sense that you can have true, powerfully influential innovation and constant iteration at the same time.

It is also the most complicated industry in the sense that all of its sectors influence all of the other sectors: software influences hardware and design, services influence software and hardware etc.

Cars can't possibly hope to compare in any sense of the word with smartphones, computers and tablets because they only have one primary use. Those devices have several dozen each. They are also based on tech that is evolving much, much faster than the tech cars are based on.

Having said that, the infotainment system example is a good one. But here's a question: who was the first car manufacturer to offer one? We do not know because car manufacturers treated that as an extra, not as a thing that could change people's lives. Tech manufacturers differ in that respect. Everyone knows that Apple, despite not being the first doing it, made smartphone apps a thing via the seamless experience of the App Store. If a car manufacturer had influenced the car industry so much in such a fundamental way, would we know? Maybe, maybe not. But in tech we definitely know because innovation is its lifeblood and all companies want to be associated with that.

It's noble to feel that you are not owed. I used to feel like that too. By growing older I came to realize that this is exactly how governments, corporations and many other institutions want me to feel. So now I deem it preferable to ask of them to share more of the wealth they amass towards social services (governments) or R&D (companies). Again: what you never ask for, you'll never get.