The Equity Kicker - Latest Comments in Open-ness in the mobile value chain

Re: Open-ness in the mobile value chain

nic — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:56:42 -0000

Thanks Jo. You make a good point, over the medium to long term it isn't clear why we need 'stores' at all.

Re: Open-ness in the mobile value chain

Jo Rabin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:44:28 -0000

Building walled gardens is surely in Apple's blood, and they know a thing or two about it.

<cite>So why is Apple a potential loser?</cite>

Well, are they? If they are looking for a profitable and sizeable niche rather than a mass market, then they are not losing are they?

From a developer perspective, as often observed, there is increasingly the choice of deploying Web apps rather than native apps, and you don't need to go to the Apple App store or indeed any other store.

No you can't do everything that way - fwiw the last MobileMonday London looked at this issue and the resulting blog posts summarise some of the interesting discussion.

Re: Open-ness in the mobile value chain

Evan Bartlett — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:27:18 -0000

I agree completely! When the iphone launched everyone talked about how Jobs was taking it to the carriers and breaking their backs. Well, in the end, all they did was shift who gets to decide how to block apps on the platform.

My buddy Justin launched the Instinctive player for the iphone and Additunes (similar to the genius playlist) long before apple did, and now both of these apps aren't allowed anymore.

Time to go look at Tmobile and Android, or my fav, blackberry.

Re: Open-ness in the mobile value chain

scott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:58:37 -0000

thought provoking as usual. You highlight an important faultline in the genius of Steve Jobs. This closed position is also highlighted in the lack of willingness to disaggregate hardware from software in key instances. iTunes would arguably be more far reaching if accessible from other devices e.g. the G1, rather than indirectly boosting competition through Amazon. It's a pity because his legacy will be limited as a result. (via Mippin Mobile)