Counter view: Steve Jobs instincts were about owning everything. Any app should (must) be bought from apple, as a subscription, while holding your data hostage, at their price.
That’s not how the iPhone worked. All the apps were pre-installed when the phone was purchased. There were no additional downloads or subscription (other than phone service).
You're not seriously suggesting the multiple apple subscription services were brought in because 3rd party apps became a thing?
The original iphone had zero market share on release. First one is free. Just like Appletv, applemusic, icloud storage, apple games subs....
If you think apple's approach has ever been anything else but abusing market power to maximise revenue I've got a bridge for you with microsoft written on the side. (MS are all like "We'd have been crucified for that, well not anymore!" And the race to the bottom of your wallet continues apace.)
You said it was Steve Jobs’ instincts. He’s been out of the picture for 13 years, before most, if not all the subscriptions you mentioned. Those were Tim Cook looking to make up for the iPhone reaching market saturation.
I was pointing out that Jobs’ instinct on the iPhone was web apps, because that’s what it launched with. The App Store was a response to customer demand and people hacking stuff onto it anyway. And of course, they looked to make money on it, as they are a business and it requires money to build and maintain the platform.
As far as their approach only ever being abuse of market dominance, that simply doesn’t make sense. In the late 90s and early 2000s they didn’t have much of a market to speak of. There was no market to abuse. Apple has been around for decades with pretty famous ups and downs.