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Wouldn't it benefit them (other than they might sell less hardware).
And therein lies the crux of the matter. Apple is a
hardware company - they make their money on the iPods, Macs and accessories they sell. Not on the software and not on the iTunes store, though I don't think the iTunes store operates in the red or anything.
So no, opening it up to other devices doesn't help Apple much at all, and just dilutes the demand for iPods. I find it totally understandable from a business point of view.
Interesting article - not for the author's conclusions, which I think are not very accurate, but for the rebuttal and the comments from readers:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/s...-stores-profit/