People seem to be using that term way too much for anything that involves making a profit. Rent seeking has a narrow definition in economics and providing access to a wide consumer base cultivated through years of hardware and software development definitely does not fit in that definition.<p>It's weird to just forget the value added through the whole ecosystem by Apple and say that they make "30% for doing nothing" which is only true if you ignore... everything? It's like saying a downtown store is rent seeking because it's only selling stuff they didn't make at a higher mark up.
That's ancient history!<p>They're approaching two trillion dollar market cap. That's like filling the Great Lakes with Grade A honey and not expecting any bees to come sting yoh azz. Once the economy and political scenario stabilities, the hammer will fall. As for what that means, one only needs look at what happened to Bill and Steve when they chose to fight rather than capitulate and then realize how much opportunity Tim Apple has already had to avoid what's now inevitable.<p>IMNSHO: If Apple doesn't license alternate app-stores to be operated by qualified third-parties (on a per-consumer opt-in basis) and support the iPhone development tools on non-Apple systems, there will be a similar outcome. I'm just hoping if they go foreign, it's someone from Italy or Norway that takes over --I may have 40 years experience, but in my family, I'm considered mid-career and will be stuck with Apple for decades to come.