Blog Post 1

Apple's participation in the PC revolution and their current smartphone sales seem somewhat similar. First, Apple releases a product - not the first of its category, but one that helped shape where the technology was going (Apple 2 / iPhone). Apple spends a lot of effort making this product right, and keeps everything within the company. They see huge initial success. Second, many other products in the same category are released. The interesting ones are (MS-DOS machines / Android smartphones). Many different companies built these new machines, and then licensed the aforementioned operating systems from (Microsoft / Google), splitting the responsibility for different parts of these products. Third, these new products gain ground, and Apple loses market share (although the iPhone not nearly as much as their PC line). Analysts usually attribute most of this switch in the market to that basic structure; the separate responsibilities allowed for cheaper products and more opportunity for developing widely-usable apps. The smartphone market is still in flux, and finding programs for the iPhone is easier than it was for the Apple 2, so I can't claim that the same situation has occurred, but I find the similarities interesting.