Apple’s Velvet Handcuffs

Apple’s recent victory over Samsung got me thinking about to company and their increasing influence on the technology industry. Love them or hate them, you have to respect their innovation and their ability to make things work better together as long as you stay in the Apple orbit.

Their recent release of OS X, Mountain Lion continues to put velvet handcuffs on people who own iPhones, iPads and other Macs. For example, three iPhone/iPad apps are now on the Mac too. Notes, Reminders, and Game Center  join Photo Stream, Mail, Calendar and Contacts as cloud-based apps. The release of iOS 6 in a couple of weeks will further cement this OS X and iOS integration.

All of these sync with other Apple machines wirelessly, courtesy of Apple’s free, increasingly sophisticated iCloud service. The new apps join Mail, Calendar and Contacts, which already sync with your iGadgets. Change a phone number on your phone, and it’s instantly updated on your tablet and computer; set up a reminder on your Mac, and your phone will alert you at the appointed time or even place.

It’s all extremely useful and a bit magical if you own more than one Apple device. Clearly, the company wants to keep you a happy prisoner inside its beautiful walled garden. Their stock price reflects this as they are the most valuable company in the world.

Can they keep it up? Is it good for the industry? Let me know what you think.