Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I highly doubt that the iTunes Store is the source of the iPod's success, considering that there are large numbers of people who steal music or would prefer CDs. It certainly helped, though.
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While I agree that the iTunes store is not the sole source of the iPod's popularity (and also like Firewire), I do think it was a very important factor. iTunes is now the largest place for music sales in America (if not the world) and represents a very large chunk of how mainstream America gets their music. While younger and more tech-saavy groups turn to other means on the internet, and some still holdout to various physical formats (I have a rapidly growing record collection), iTunes has offered a very large, easy-to-use market for millions of people.
That being said, the iPad will have an extensive market that will only be available to Apple products (the app store). And many apps will become iPad exclusives and/or have more functionality on the iPad than they do on the iPhone or iPod Touch.
Apple isn't trying to win over the netbook user, they're trying to win over the user that has never really thought about the netbook. And the app store is going to give them the advantage over the countless competitors that are also on the horizon (Android-based tablets [including the Dell mini], HP Slate, and eventually the ChromeOS).
The fact that Apple is far from the only company investing heavily in this type of device shows something. These guys all see the potential in this market, and the likelyhood of this market exploding. All of these devices will likely have their early stumbled, including the iPad, but give it a couple years and see what happens. And who knows, maybe Apple is working on another game changer like the iTunes store.