ethereum is not the first blockchain that offers smart-contract as there are some blockchains that are developed prior to ethereum (bitshares).  however, i think ethereum is the first smart-contract based system that is accepted and embraced by cryptoworld as it has taken the crypto-industry by storm in year 2017.  plenty of new companies jumped into crypto by creating tokens based in ethereum.  this is a good start and good news for the industry.  in the future, ethereum will be upgraded and offer more real life applications to the people.