Louis,

Ahh….that was my point? That’s why I said, “Here’s what I think we don’t know:” and then pointed out just a few of the things we don’t know.

I also didn’t say anything at all about “wrestling control” nor was I (or do I feel in any way) “punished” and I’m certainly not “acting so hurt” as you point out. In fact, re-read my post since I am a shareholder (i.e., I want them to be wildly successful and profitable) and the crux of the post was about momentum and the ecosystem. Crushing that ecosystem — or even the perception of such — will work at cross-purposes to success and profitability over time. THAT was the whole point of the post.

If you want someone to spoon-feed you applications via the iTunes store and sanction exactly what you can-and-can-not do with a device, more power to you. But I saw the potential in the Apple Lisa (but couldn’t afford the $10k) and leapt at the Macintosh when introduced. But even a lay student of computing history will understand why Apple downtrended in personal computing market share while Microsoft and the untold number of ecosystem manufacturer’s made the IBM PC compatible market explode to >90% global dominance and Bill Gates one of the richest people on the planet.

You know what? I’d hate like hell to see things move in that same direction, though if the iPod is any indication (intro after intro after intro after intro keeping them on top) Apple just might have an innovation cycle and product roadmap that will keep them out in front simply by out competing anyone else.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the irony in bloggers and commenters pointing out Apple’s original “Think Different” campaign within the context of what they’re doing now? You know:

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.

I’m not a saint and I’m not trying to change the whole world but rather am trying to understand what they’re doing and how that pushes them forward….or holds them back.

Apple’s zeitgeist from its early days (and the essence of the brand even today) is all about hacking, doing things outside the norm, pushing the envelope, creativity and innovation, changing the world, and more. THAT is why I’ve been a loyal Apple user (and one could say fanatic) since 1979 and why I expect so much from the company.

Look. The iPhone is a new and fundamentally different computing PLATFORM and Apple even talks about it in that way. It’s not a phone; not a smartphone; not just a text messager. That is why disallowing an ecosystem to flourish is puzzling at best and disturbing at its worst since it’s the collective energy, enthusiasm, creativity, magic and delight that could make the iPhone the ONLY device anyone might want. Apple simply can’t do it all nor can ANY company…that is why a robust ecosystem is mission-critical for any platform.

So what if you and some “technologically savvy” people wanted to wrestle control of the iPhone away from Apple and were punished for it? Your percentage of the potential iPhone user base is miniscule. Why should Apple cater to you?

When the ordinary iPhone users start to demand third party applications is when Apple should start supplying them through the iTunes Music Store. Not before. So, stop acting so hurt. You are not a saint; you violated Apple’s rights, not the reverse.

Another thought that has appeared in the blogosphere as I’ve been trolling around on this topic.

Seems that there is a general consensus amongst some in the Mac developer community that the current iPhone OS state was a “stop gap” measure until Leopard comes out. Many of the services, the iPhone version of Mac OS X, and future offerings are dependent upon many of the things that we’ll soon see released.

This makes a lot of sense to me and I could go off on another whole tangent with this topic. When Steve Jobs admitted to Walt Mossberg that the .Mac service was a bit long in the tooth and that “we’ll be making up for lost time” was clear. The most recent release was NOT what I expected and would’ve been pretty cool in 2004….but not 2007. I expect that .Mac, iWeb and a lot of other Apple offerings will become much more robust upon the release of Leopard and cause HUGE incentives to upgrade to this new OS.

Only the most basic links are now made between the iPhone, online services like .Mac (or even Google’s services) and my home/office Mac’s. I expect that the linkages and connections will be much more robust come Leopard (e.g., grabbing files off of my home machine).

It’s really early in the game. Apple is going to make major updates and just can’t worry about anything but a stock iPhone. I do think at some point it will open up somewhat (if not fully). They have to “prove” the basic iPhone first…walk before you run…and they can’t worry about you hackers out their.

iTunes sells both DRM and DRM-free (currently just EMI right now) tracks. iTunes DRM was set up as a compromise to music companies. If the music companies would allow Apple to sell DRM-free tracks, they would. Example again: EMI.

Makes you wonder why Amazon gets to sell DRM-free tracks that Apple can’t?

(iTunes tracks are AAC/mp4, so it is true that not all players can play even DRM-free tracks from iTunes. Although AAC itself is an open standard, unlike wma).

Note: I’m not an Apple user at all, and much of that has to do with the control aspect. The tech is sexy, and well-integrated, and closed…precisely b/c of the level of control. But I actually wrote about this yesterday myself, after making some music purchases this past week. I’ve finally started buying music again (at Amie Street, Magnatune, and now Amazon), after a long dry period…and it’s about control. I really think that Jobs is slowly but inexorably painting himself into a corner with his unwillingness to open up his portable devices, and it’s going to come back to haunt him in the end.

He can point to the telcos right now as part of the problem (and they are certainly not without fault [ie, EVIL!]), but I honestly don’t think Jobs would be opening things up w/o them. A telling place to watch would be the iTouch, since it is supposedly the same binaries as the iPhone, but shouldn’t have the issues with telco licensing and such. If that market flourishes and is encouraged, that would be telling

All that being said…nice, insightful post, Steve. Really. Like I said, I come more from the nerd/hacker/Maker side of the fence, so I know that my viewpoint is both different from yours in many ways, and also outside the “mainstream”. But your analysis is always thoughtful, and well worth reading. It’ll be interesting to see how this iPhone update shakes out. I could be wrong; the backlash could force Apple to reconsider some things, which would be great.

As a user of graphic design products, what if Apple only allowed you to load Apple and not Adobe applications on your Mac? You’d *have* to use Aperture and not Photoshop.

Bart: Were you one of the first million or so that bought an iPhone? Do you own one?

I’d recommend re-reading my post and try to take a 40,000 foot view like I did (focusing on what these moves are doing to an ecosystem) vs. a tactical view.