What’s Next for Apple?

As Apple competes and cooperates with giants like Intel, Google and Microsoft, it inevitably comes under threat—from the curious, from competitors, and from those who want the alluring products to be more widely accessible. The increased popularity of the Apple operating system means increased threats from hackers. Some tech reporters suggest that Apple brought the problem on itself by limiting the iPhone and iPod Touch technology to one wireless service provider, tempting those who aren’t on AT&T to find a way around it. And Apple has added fuel to the fire with by claiming that its operating system could easily compete with Microsoft, a business favorite that has long been under attack from hacks and viruses (not to mention monopoly claims).

In the March 18 BusinessWeek article, “Apple’s Icarus Effect,” Roger L. Kay admonishes Apple for making the Mac and the iPhone “attractive target[s].” He notes that while the iPhone grabbed most of the attention in 2007, Mac desktop and laptop sales also jumped 37% from 2006. However, Kay fails to provide much evidence that hacks of Apple products have surged. What is clear is that the Mac OS “has begun to nibble into Windows' once-unassailable dominance; last year, its share of the U.S. market topped 6 percent, more than double its portion in 2003.” (Wired, March 18, 2008.)

However, Apple is beginning to lift the lid on its technology; the recently unveiled iPhone software roadmap embraces developer input on the iPhone, allowing people to create applications for the device. CEO Steve Jobs gave a presentation on the topic that’s available on the Apple site, along with the rest of the company’s public presentations.

By authorizing iPhone applications not developed by Apple, the company hopes to make the device more useful to businesspeople on the go. Many businesses rely on BlackBerries and other PDAs that use Microsoft Exchange for an always-accessible network of e-mail, shared calendars and address books; iPhones don’t accommodate Microsoft Exchange. BusinessWeek discusses Apple’s “suiting up for work” strategy in its March 6 article.

It’s widely thought that Jobs’s move toward a more developer-friendly iPhone is partially in reaction to Google’s “swipe” at the best-selling phone of 2007. Google, which helped develop a mobile software package called Android, claimed last year that the iPhone was a weaker device than Android-supported phones because its platform doesn’t allow for much developer integration, as Android does. Apple’s roadmap seems to be a direct response to this critique. The Times of London explored this idea in March.

A notoriously secretive company doesn’t always let its fans get away with speculating about their plans. For ten years, Apple fanboy Nicholas Ciarelli kept a site called Think Secret that hinted at future developments for Apple, many of which turned out to be true. After being sued by Apple in 2005 for allegedly trying to wrestle secrets out of employees, Think Secret was shut down. Tech blogs like Engadget and Apple-obsessed publications like The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) have offered their own predictions, but getting real answers is difficult. As Wired puts it, “Apple's relationship with the press is dismissive at best, adversarial at worst.”

On March 19 the Associated Press, citing unnamed music industry sources, reported that Apple was considering making the entire iTunes music library free to iPhone and iPod owners who agree to “pay extra for the devices.” It remains to be seen whether Apple will actually enact this plan. But the idea makes sense: Apple has been building walls around its immensely popular technology for years, inviting everyone with just a few hundred (or thousand) dollars in disposable income to come inside the city gates. This scheme would likely drive millions more people to invest in the iPhone technology.

Apple’s “Hot News” section on Apple.com is a way to keep abreast of official news about the company’s activities. It’s available as an RSS feed, and its postings nourish the already-hooked Apple user with software update notifications, seasonal deals or special event announcements.