The iTunes App Store just broke 2 billion downloads. Let's run down some of the crazy big numbers:

OK, of the currently 85,000 available apps, only a fraction are making a lot of money. Still, the App Store is an unprecedented economic achievement. No other software platform has gotten so many people to buy so much so fast. None.

So, what are the takeaways? What can we learn?

GETTING THE FUNDAMENTALS RIGHT CAN CHANGE THE WHOLE GAME.
Make a great device with a great browser with a great media player and you can go a long way. Especially when no one has figured out how to do it before. When you make a great product, people might like it. They might love it. It might change the way they think about anything remotely like it, like phones. It might make them change the way they think about other things not even like it -- like tablet PCs and portable game players.

For the first year of the iPhone, there was no App Store. Apple got the phone, the iPod and the Internet part right, first. They got the fundamentals right first.

USE WHAT YOU'VE GOT.
The smart folks at Apple have been thinking a lot about what they do really well and how they think their talents and assets can be applied in a strategic way. What are the most significant factors to the success of the iPhone? I’d say it’s the combination of Mac OS X, interface design and the App Store. In other words, Apple has incredible assets in software, experience design and services, which they brought together to create something exponential.

FAST IS OK. SMART IS BETTER.
Sometimes we, at Odopod, are called upon to do something fast, as fast as possible to achieve a burning near-term objective. This is a reality and we’re happy to work within that constraint. However, short-term action isn't a substitute for 1) thinking about your assets and values and 2) projecting those assets and values into the future.

2 Billion apps was made possible by just this sort of longer-term thinking.

THE FUTURE.
As every consumer electronics company in the world pursues the iPhone and emulates the best aspects they can, we can't forget that the iPhone isn't an end. It's just a point on a much longer roadmap.

We can check again in about 3 months and we'll probably see the 3 billionth app download and another non-descript press release announcing it. However, it shouldn't be a surprise. What made it possible is simple to see. It's just difficult to do.