But from a consumer standpoint, it’s super convenient to have everything there in the slick UI available via the App store. And yes, in theory, we could just use the mobile browser to find Apps, but I still maintain that it requires more sifting.

And even if you come up with some App-store equivalent software for some other device, you’d still be facing an uphill battle in convincing people to switch. As a rule, people prefer something they know to learning something new. “More apps” probably won’t convince people to switch, as many of the ‘consumers’ (not developers) I know are perfectly happy with the selection available in the App store, and even beginning to become overwhelmed by the choices as offerings on the App store continue to grow.

Sometimes more isn’t better. Sometimes more is just more. And I think that’s what people would likely think about any alternative to the App store.

So that said…
It might be a little misleading to say the App Store “limits to a specific set of functionality” – that would be “specific”, as in “specified”, as in prebounded and defined, and I don’t think that’s the case. Rather, in practice Apple reserves the right to have the App Store EXCLUDE whatever it sees fit.

Those exclusions seem to be in 4 main categories:
1. Stuff that Apple sees as business competition (like, another browser)
2. Stuff that Apple knows would annoy some of its carriers (like, VOIP, and bandwidth hogs)
3. Dirty/Offensive stuff.
4. Malware, which is actually a big justification for the review process

And of course the process seems arbitrary and capricious, but I think most of those cases look like they fell into one of those 4

And judging by the # of updates for apps I had waiting when I went back to iTunes (like 47), I don’t really buy the “Apple is hampering bug fixes”

And I’m not sure if I aggree with AppStore/Marketplace is how people find apps. Or at least not, find out about apps. Oh, I’m sure there are a bajillion downloads from people browsing around, but I suspect it’s more driven by word of mouth and online references, and then the appstore is just a Google for the app you already know about. (Download from anywhere ala Android sounds cool, but only really useful if I happened to stumble on info about a new app while browsing on the device itself)

I admit the latest Android devices ARE finally catching up to the iPhone. I was thinking about why I’d still be slow to switch over, and I realize it’s because I suspect I trust Apple’s upgrade path more… that over time I’l be able to get devices that are absolutely competitive, if not leading, in slickness and tech-wise, I won’t have to get a new set of apps, OR learn any new UIs – and I’m pretty conservative about not wanting to learn new UIs. Android, by comparison, doesn’t have a single front runner, and manufacturers make a lot of customization to the base OS in order to stand out, and if I got, say, a HTC hero, I wouldn’t know what my next phone is.

(I know there’s that DoubleTwist app to plug into iTunes — though I guess I’m not 100% hooked on iTunes, since I never buy music with it, and keep everything as MP3s. (though now there’s some stickiness w/ the playlists I’ve set up) Does a typical Android device have a “I’ll back up everything on your PC” out of the box?