Re: curated app store
Yes, I figured since the iPod was kicking butt in the industry and got iTunes pre-installed on all Windows PC that when the iPod Touch shipped, formfactor of first iPhones it was a small step from iPod Touch to iPhone. And that was a time when PDAs had faded and the best PDA/phone was the Handspring phones with a 320x320 display mostly running 160x160 resolution apps.
IMO Apple is where it is today because they beat Microsoft at the MP3 market with the iPod and iTunes and it was the mastery of Steve Jobs at UI design simplicity with the iPod Touch then iPhone which took their financials into the stratosphere.