Oh, I know plenty of Campy's history. I met Valentino Campagnolo briefly once (and Yoshi Shimano at a different time). Shimano is innovative, but they have long frustrated more than a few people by introducing products with great fanfare and then quietly dropping them after only a couple years. And providing small parts for end users has never been a strong point for Shimano -- if it breaks, replace the whole thing rather than the piece that failed.

As you point out, Campagnolo has done this as well, but do note that the examples you give all come from the period after Tullio's death.

Re: 4-speed freewheels, rod operated derailleurs, and CP/M -- something wrong with those? (I still have 3 or 4 CP/M computers here...) :-P