There has been a lot of ink spilled over the last 6 months about the fact that Apple has lost its luster. Both Wall Street analyst and technology bloggers agree that Apple cannot continue its unrelenting upward trajectory.
In many ways I agree. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am an Apple fan, but I’m also willing to call the kettle black. Apple’s greatest strength is its ability to look within and develop innovative products. The question on everyone’s mind now is whether or not they can continue to do that now that Steve is gone. Only time will tell.
Apple’s greatest strength is also a weakness. They are unwilling (or unable) to acquire assets that will give them a leading market position. They have a lead in downloadable music, but seem uninterested in the market shift to streaming content. They’re either uninterested or they do not believe that streaming content will ever overtake downloads. One potential solution to this problem would be to open up iTunes to the web. Apple could spin it as an improved experience over other competitors. They could allow you to ditch iTunes completely and use just Safari or Firefox to access your content. Doing this would open up iTunes to other platforms that Apple currently doesn’t want to play in, and would allow them to further expand their dominance in the digital entertainment arena.
What do you think? Should Apple open up iTunes to the web?
A Borrowed Idea 