Apps/Roadmap: Difference between revisions

At a high level, an App ecosystem is an end-to-end, integrated combination of hardware, software and services that aims at providing compelling user experiences while severely restricting user and developer choice. A typical App ecosystem looks like this:

At the lowest level, there is some hardware upon which runs a usually proprietary OS / runtime. On top of this runtime exists a store/marketplace which is the exclusive distribution channel for Apps, for tht ecosystem. The provider also offers a suite of compelling services that are also tied pretty closely to this ecosystem. Such services may be both user and developer services. The ecosystem also comes with a suite of compelling default applications, but in addition, provides an attractive array of other Apps that are available within the ecosystem.  

Here's a simple representation of how some of the bigger players in the industry are implementing their own versions of an App ecosystem.  

This poses challenges for both developers and users.