re: #9 MichaelJ

Not many of the developers I know share your viewpoint. I would modify your statement to say that if I were going to develop an app, I would do so for Android and iOS first and port to other platforms if there was enough incentive. If you only develop for Android, you develop for 39% of the market. If you develop for both Android and iOS, you develop for over 70% of the market. Why would you ignore that big of a percentage of potential customers?

For a large developer that is true. But not so much for small developers. A competent developer will make the core of their code platform independent so it is easier to port to other OSes. But porting still takes time to code and debug and costs money for hardware if they don’t already have it and possibly additional service plans. Small developers with limited resources have to focus their efforts and spend wisely.

re: #10 MichaelJ

You’re correct, Buck. We all know how that turned out. Apple is now the most profitable tech company in the entire world. Not quite the point you were trying to make, but far less disingenuous and much more accurate.

That’s a rather recent development. Apple is good at finding emerging markets, but not at holding onto them. Just like the PC and MP3 player market segments, they have an early lead in the smartphone and tablet markets. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to long term dominance. And I’m fine with that, diversity is good.