In the 1980s, Apple jumped out to an early lead in personal computers, but then got selfish. Steve Jobs, a notorious control freak, just could not play well with others.Along came Microsoft, with Windows, which was a knockoff of Apple's operating system. Microsoft partnered with everyone and today has 90 percent market share, while Apple's share lingers in the single digits.
Today the battlefield is mobile devices, and just as before, Apple jumped out to an early lead. And just as before, Jobs got selfish. He won't support Flash, or any cross-platform tools—because he wants developers locked into his platform, and his App Store, where he collects a 30 percent commission.
Daniel Lyons (Newsweek) - http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/05/20/sayonara-iphone-why-i-m-switching-to-android.aspx#
Clearly, Android is becoming the new Windows (or even better because it's Open Source). Same as in 1980s, where Microsoft knocked off Apple with an OS that would run on any platform, today it appears Google would do the same for mobile market.
No matter how beautiful, people don't like stay inside walled gardens. Apple doesn't seem to learn this lesson.