Apple seem to be forever locked up inside their own little eco-system and living their own world. You buy a product from Apple, and it pretty much only works properly with other Apple products or partners. Take the iPhone for example, in the US at least, you buy it from Apple, but have to use it with AT&T. Then you go home and need to sync it with iTunes to have a half decent sync system. You don’t have to own a Mac for iTunes, but it works a lot better on the Mac, and simple things like importing photos and video is so much easier than if you were to use a Windows machine.
Apple make everything easy and simple, as long as you follow there rules. The App Store works because it’s combined with your iTunes account and developers have to follow a strict list of Apple rules. However this means they can’t go and create any mind boggling apps like you can for Android which allow you to customize your phone to its full potential.
Over the past number of years, the iPhone was only available from AT&T (Or other privileged carriers) and Apple themselves at launch. But now Apple seem to be realizing the need to open up their distribution chain.
The iPhone 4 is being launched on June 24th, and it’s been announced that AT&T and Apple as usual will be carrying the iPhone 4 at launch. But now it’s been uncovered that Wal-Mart and Radio Shack and possibly Best Buy will be supplying the iPhone 4 on June 24th. While the iPhone has been available from Wal-Mart in the past, it was never available at launch.
This is the first time Apple have finally decided to open up their distribution channels and not hog all the launch hype to their own stores. I think they’ve finally coped to the idea that the greater the availability of a product, the more chance you have at selling it.
So maybe this is a sign of new things to come from Apple, a new friendlier, more open Apple, one that allows more than one carrier in the US. While the UK has 5 carriers, as well as many other countries, AT&T still has the monopoly in the US.
Maybe we could see Apple taking it a bit easier on the poor developers who wake up in a cold sweat a night wondering if they comply to Apple’s insane developement rules.
What do you think? Will Apple ever open up?
Let us know in the comments
