Well, I can see this might be one of those 'highly inflammatory topics', but it is time to wade into the "Campy-Shimano cat fight".
Campagnolo and his company were true innovators. Others here may know their history far better than me, but over the years Campy was either the sole innovator or great refiner of many major bike components like the rear derailleur, the shifting system, the quick release, and others. They made bike components into true polished works of art, supported what they did make with great spare parts, and slowly evolved and improved their designs. During this time, Shimano was a bit of a crackpot company that did their best to blatantly copy Campy designs, sometimes made interesting but questionable improvements, radically changing their designs almost every friggin' year, and GOOD LUCK if a rider wanted a spare part for last year's component.
But then the tables slowly turned. It seemed that the MTB explosion started a shift with Shimano that made them radically innovate in both the mountain and road arenas. Those of us that trained and raced many triathlons on Campy Super Record parts (that would be the first Super Record) with downtube friction shifters and shifted on Regina freewheels know perhaps better than anyone that Shimano has vastly improved the state of the sport. They stuck their necks out in a major way and were undeniablly FIRST to bring to market many successful and usable innovations. For example:
-Going to 7 cogs and then going to 8 cogs--a big impovement from the 5 pitiful cogs typical on Italian freewheels (admittedly Suntour was the first with 6 and later Campy widened their rear hubs to accommodate standard-spaced 6-speed freewheels)
-Developing the cassette hub/gearing system--I have bent many an axle on my 5- and 6-speed Campy hubs since in the old design the driveside bearing put incredible loads on the middle of the axle. And now changing cassettes is a breeze.
-Coming up with 'indexed' shifting for high end bikes--the ability to shift with one click or a few clicks instead of searching around on a friction system was a big leap forward.
-'Hyperglide' shifting--to me this is probably the most amazing thing they did: because of the ramps on their rear cassettes and the shaping of the cog teeth, riders could now shift to an easier gear, while climbing a hill, WHILE still PUSHING on the pedals and applying a load. When I first experienced this, I was stunned. For me, climbing was forever changed. Having this ability was fantastic.
-Refining the double-sprung derailleur--Campy Record and SR derailleurs had a spring only on the jockey wheel assembly, none on the derailleur pivot, and had a very simple and primitive design. Shimano used computer aided design to optimize the double sprung system with a spring on the derailleur pivot as well. A huge improvement in chain tension and shifting smoothness.
-Ramped and pinned front chainrings--a similiar 'hyperglide' innovation for the chainrings that improved front shifting vastly (although not to the degree that hyperglide did for the rear).
-And then the crowning achievement, STI dual control levers--their 2nd amazing design. A huge improvement over fumbling continuously with downtube levers. Now you could shift WITH BOTH HANDS ON THE BARS while on the drops, while on the hoods, while standing, and while braking. All were impossible to do before (with complete 2-handed control of the bike). Bike racers said the very tactics of road racing changed.
This list does not even include Shimano's innovations in the MTB arena, where Campy trailed terribly and then beat a hasty retreat. The fact is that Shimano was THE FIRST in ALL of these areas, and now Campy has become the copycat. Campy components now have every single feature listed above because now it is Campy that has become the follower. Campy has admittedly made some decent refinements--using carbon fiber and exotic alloys, etc. BUT Shimano innovated, designed, and took the risk in ALL of these areas. That cannot be denied. And Shimano's recent improvements (except this endless chase of packing more and more cogs onto a very small rear axle) are pretty stunning as well.
I loved Campy components because they were truly 'the best'. But now I respect the vast no. of really good designs that have come out of Shimano's shop. Clearly, they are a corporation that makes a lot of money (on us), but they became the market leader (in my opinion) in a pretty admirable way. Ingenuity has value. And being the first has value.
Where would you want to swim ?