Just How Successful is the iPhone App Store?(blogs.wsj.com)
blogs.wsj.com
Just How Successful is the iPhone App Store?
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/07/02/just-how-successful-is-the-iphone-app-store/
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/07/02/just-how-successful-is-the-iphone-app-store/
Gladwell did not say "Apple will soon be making more money from iPhone downloads than it does from the iPhone itself."
Here is what he said: "Apple may soon make more money selling iPhone downloads (ideas) than it does from the iPhone itself (stuff). The company could one day give away the iPhone to boost downloads; it could give away the downloads to boost iPhone sales; or it could continue to do what it does now, and charge for both. Who knows? The only iron law here is the one too obvious to write a book about, which is that the digital age has so transformed the ways in which things are made and sold that there are no iron laws"
Overall, I agree with one of the key points of Gladwell's review (of the "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" book) - a point that Friedman made a long time ago - There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Here is one extract from his review "Credit Suisse estimates that YouTube will lose close to half a billion dollars this year. If it were a bank, it would be eligible for TARP funds."