Even if he's reduced to giving the machines away, as long as he can charge rent for access to data (or apps) he's got a business model.
It seems really unlikely to me that Apple is aiming to focus their business model on "rent for access." They've always been a hardware company, and they've maintained from the start that the iTunes Store doesn't bring in significant profit.
Back in January, Apple stated (as quoted in an AppleInsider article) that the same is true for the app store:
"Regarding the App Store and iTunes stores, we are running those a bit over break even, and that hasn't changed," [CFO Peter] Oppenheimer said during a conference call following Monday's quarterly earnings report.
I suspect the same will be true for books.
Apple has always been a hardware company that makes software (and sells content) in order to get people to buy the hardware. I see no evidence to suggest that that's changing with the iPad.
You're right that iAd changes this equation; advertising can be a huge source of revenue. But I would be very surprised if Apple were to change its entire longterm business model from hardware to ads.
They just had their "best non-holiday quarter ever," while remaining focused on hardware. You suggested that the PC market is dying—but my understanding is that Apple's market share is currently growing. I think there's still a fair bit of life left in their hardware-focused business model.
]]>