I agree with you that it's not good for anyone company to dominate any particular market in the way that the iPhone now does. Microsoft's dominance of the desktop space is a prime example of what can happen, namely indifference leading to shoddy products, and even the down right abuse of its customers. Well, Apple is no different, in this regard I guess, and now that they have become the 'Microsoft' of the mobile, mpeg and downloads market, there is always the same potential for the same indifference to develop. So far at least that hasn't happened, but you never know, you know?
Unfortunately, even though I agree with your sentiment, some analysts, as you can see in this video link below, actually think that Apple's dominance will not only continue, but will actually grow, but obviously, with some 99-plus percent of the current market, not by much!!
http://www.businessinsider.com/business-news/jan-15-munster3-2010-1
They point out that among the reasons why the APP STORE now features over 133,000 apps is because developers prefer the platform. OS X is a great OS to develop for, and the the truth of the matter is, just like Windows developers, they tend to go where the customers are, and that means the 56 million or so iPhone and Touch customers. BoyGenious has some info here, that if confirmed this coming Wednesday, might just be the worst news that Android and others could possibly hear:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010...tailed-also-apple-calling-tablet-the-itablet/
Hopefully, Apple can keep its lead without actually dominating in the same way and fashion that Microsoft had become so famous for in the past, but that is something that we will just have to wait and see, won't we?
Great post, by the way, Rob!