When Steve’s happy, I’m happy.
And here, Steve’s happy because he’s just announced what was the most significant Apple, Inc. development in the entire show. Steve presents iAd with the satisfaction of knowing he’s not just taking on the big boys, but he’s doing it with style. Steve believes he’s in the process of revolutionizing the sick, sucky advertising industry. And I think he’s right.
Because despite having created some of the world’s most beautiful hardware, Apple is in the content business. And they know that software is content. And by creating an ad network to support the content already in the hands of millions of people unengaged by more static, traditional content, Apple is in a unique position to rewrite the advertising book.
The cynical view is that all the hardware, all the music and the movies, the deals with publishers and developers and TV networks, all the gorgeous software and the elegant distribution channels and the iTunes and the retail spaces, it’s all meant to serve this endgame. That’s the cynical view. There is no but. Draw your own conclusions.
