Dear Readers,
The examples I mentioned can be compared to selling songs at the iTunes Store. People buy songs from Apple not because they can't find the music elsewhere, all music really is available online for free. People buy from Apple because it lets them ignore the hassles of peer to peer downloading. With Apple you know
you are going to get the entire song
it will have a certain quality
you'll get it immediately
Apple charges for that comfort.
And they can do the same with profile data. Integrate iPhone with Apple's desktop software and web services in ways that help people utilize their personal data.
If Apple's integration is smoother than their competitors, and they're in a very good position to create smooth integration, then customers will continue to buy Apple equipment. The trick is not to own the data but to make apps and services that use the data to make people's lives comfortable and efficient.
The strategy gives the company flexibility to be creative and many ways to integrate their hardware with new software and services. In short, knowing your customer should be a very lucrative position.
Ironically Microsoft was aspiring for this grail a couple of years ago but, in what would be a cardinal twist of fate, they didn't have the right platform to leverage.
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