Apple Takes A Risk With The Promised iTunes Phone

This is a pretty good summary of Apple's relation to the mobile industry, pointing out some problems with pro-Apple arguments as well as points often overlooked by detractors of the Mobile Apple predictions.
"It's interesting that the company, historically so focused on its own vision of personal technology is now responding to market demand and riding the populist wave with such aplomb." I think that will be the key -- will Apple keep a tight control over its services, insisting that the products are primarily Apple products, or will it allow third-party access to its services so the iTunes store can be accessed by a range of devices? So far the strategy appears to be to keep tight control, as evidenced by its relationship with Motorola...that is reportedly plagued by the fact that no carriers want to run with the service. This brings up the old-issue that Apple makes money through hardware sales rather than content sales, although this might change.
It might be a good idea for Apple and Motorola to team up with another MVNO rather than Apple starting its own. The ESPN service focusses on sports, and they might appreciate the opportunity to add a popular music service to complement their unique content without having to worry about doing it themselves. This strategy is suggested by the rumors of an iPhone launch in the UK partnering with Virgin (old rumors never die, the date just gets set back...)
Related stories:
--"Customers Aren't Stupid" - Jobs
--Those Pesky Apple MVNO Rumors
--Rumors of iTunes Debut In UK