> As the app stores of old fade away in importance their efforts in consumer hardware and developer communities are being further pushed into prominence. I.e. eventually they won't need Google's play store and can more ambitiously take on the market.
This might happen, but seems like wishful thinking. The web really damaged Windows, but the mobile web still has a looooong way to go to unseat mobile apps.
No matter how much noise the big guys make about voice as the next platform, voice is not going to replace most apps any time soon since it is just too low bandwidth as an output channel.
iOS is never getting rid of the App Store and given that it is the lead development platform for most apps it still sets the direction for the industry. Which is perfect for Google because it cements their control over the Android ecosystem as well.
If Amazon was smart they would go after Microsoft instead and try to build some smart, next-gen cross platform productivity and consumer apps backed by intelligent backend services. Control over user data is where the real money is.
What I'm saying is Bezos & Co. might be gaming for the next generation of the handset. Bezos loves his 2-year runways so I doubt he's interested in any current smartphone ecosystem but in making inroads with consumers and developers.
What good would it be for Amazon to go after Microsoft's bread and butter? Google's already made its move towards them (Microsoft) with Chrome OS so I doubt there's really going to much more room for another titan.
This might happen, but seems like wishful thinking. The web really damaged Windows, but the mobile web still has a looooong way to go to unseat mobile apps.
No matter how much noise the big guys make about voice as the next platform, voice is not going to replace most apps any time soon since it is just too low bandwidth as an output channel.