I draw three conclusions:

1. Apps overtaking digital music is a watershed event. Apps are a new medium: they will impact all other media.
2. As the number of apps attached to any single device continues to increase, apps create increasingly higher switching costs for users.
3. Apps consumption is increasing at a rate to overtake the PC software market.

This is just incredible. The result of point number one will be mind-boggling for culture as a whole.

The article makes mention of the fact that viewers can choose to watch television shows for free on Hulu, but doesn’t mention that Hulu is still a money-losing venture, or the rumors that it will be subscription-based on the iPad.

Meanwhile, Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes a piece today that graphs the growth of movies and television shows on iTunes, and breaks down the relatively slow growth of both media from statements Apple has made in financial conference calls. In a nutshell, compared to the rate that iTunes sells music, movie and television sales are practically non-starters (although it is worth noting that when Apple bundles rentals and sales together, the numbers jump a lot. Apparently, the iTunes rental model is more popular than sales.)

Also, don’t forget about Apple’s 500,000 square foot data center that is due to come online in 2010. I haven’t been able to find an exact date, but don’t forget that’s five times bigger than their existing data center in California (this is apparently a video from a North Carolina realtor taken on Feb. 19):

Obviously, the construction has been going at a very fast pace from its announced construction just last summer. My opinion? That the target of that Data Center is Netflix streaming.

References:
Networks Wary of Apple’s Push to Cut Show Prices – New York Times, February 21, 2010
Apple’s new pitch to Hollywood – Apple 2.0 (Fortune), February 22, 2010
Apple Data Center Maiden NC – YouTube
Interview: Apple’s Gigantic New Data Center Hints at Cloud Computing - Cult of Mac, August 16, 2009