Up to now, our gateways have been personal computers which have an open architecture: the user has complete control over what runs on them and can do with them what she or he likes. So what's the problem? The iPhone and iPad are really just gateways to the internet. But once again, salvation (if that what it turns out to be) will come at a price: Apple will control the distribution channel – and take a slice of every transaction. The iPad is seen by many in the print business as a way of delivering high-value digital content to customers paying real money. Now, seven years later, we have another industry in deep trouble – newspapers and magazines – and once again Apple appears to hold out the prospect of a rescue. But salvation came at a price: the record labels effectively surrendered control of the distribution channel. With the launch of the iTunes store in 2003, Apple rescued the music business from the consequences of its own folly, not to mention its cluelessness about the net.
And it has a delicious, high-definition screen which promises "immersive" reading and viewing experiences. The iPad is like the iPhone on steroids: a powerful, handheld device which gives mobile broadband access to the net and runs any software that Apple allows. Yesterday saw the next stage in Apple's march towards global domination as the iPad was delivered to the first US customers. It's as if BMW had overtaken Mercedes and is now threatening Ford. With a market cap of $214bn (£140bn), Apple is now bigger than Google (£118bn) and is rapidly gaining on Microsoft (£170bn). A year later, the real purpose of the iPhone became clear with the launch of the Apps store – which instantly redefined the market for software into an online exchange in which tiny programs sell in huge volumes for relatively little money – with Apple taking a 30% cut of every transaction and approving every single app before it appears on the store.Īs a result, Apple has morphed imperceptibly from a small company that made cool computers, but enjoyed minuscule market share, into a global giant. Then in 2007 it redefined the mobile phone market with the iPhone, which is essentially a powerful, handheld networked computer that also happens to make voice calls.
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