The recent battle between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple's (AAPL -1.20%) iPhone 5 has been one for the ages. But when investors take a step back from the excitement, they'll see a similar dynamic to what played out in the console and early cellphone spec war. As companies struggled to one up each other with incremental gains, they were blindsided by companies like Apple and Nintendo, which came out with not improved, but simply better and more elegant products. The newest Samsung Galaxy S4 doesn't strike the revolutionary chord it needs to in order to topple Apple.