Apple: Any Color You Want... As Long As Its Black
Apple is beginning to remind me of Ford's slogan back when the model-T came out, and I believe the Apple model is not only one for success in the consumer electronics market, but also one that other companies (such as Microsoft) must follow if it wants to compete.
Microsoft has always prided itself on the hardware "ecosystem" created around technologies such as Media Center and Windows Mobile. While this is great for geeks, the majority of people out there want an electronic ecosystem that just "connects" and "works" together. True, the software Windows provides allows this to happen, but its certainly not out of the box. My Motorola Q took me 3 hours to setup. I had to copy certificates from the root certificate store in my computer to get ActiveSync working with Exchange, and of course that assumes that I have Exchange in the first place (read: most home users don't).
The technology partners Microsoft allies with makes the whole Windows Mobile, Media Center and music ecosystems fail. While many more designs are released based on a Microsoft standard, this does nothing but become poorly market the ecosystem as a whole and confuse consumers. Should I get a Blackjack, a Q, a Palm.... To most, there is no brand recognition amongst any of these. Not to mention, the hardware and software are rarely designed to complement eachother, as is important in a device like a phone.
Apple, if they've done their new iPhone right, is off to a great start. By integrating with things people know (Google Maps?), they'll instantly have a great suite of applications to offer. I know "I can do that on Pocket PC too, I have been able to forever," but lets face it -- most consumers don't know how to find Pocket Streets, install it, choose a map, and get it on the device. Windows Mobile simply doesn't make that easy.
Software development on Windows Mobile is much better, but I 'm beginning to believe for a consumer, this doesn't matter. How many consumers install applications on their machines? Mail/IM, Media, Office and Internet are the major players. For the same reason OS X users are happy with the amount software available to them, I think iPhone users will be happy with their suite of software. 99% of people simply don't need much else.
An Apple era? Maybe they'll knock out Samsung, Sony and a few other major names in consumer electronics. Unless Microsoft starts making hardware, I don't think they'll be a prominent contender in this space.