Don’t think so.

Very few people I know own ANY Apple products. I’m not talking about Silicon Valley or the NY financial district.

A lot of people are just blissfully ignorant about the Apple brand. The Apple ads they see on TV are no different (to them) than an ad regarding HP vs Dell. “They are all just PCs aren’t they?” I’ve literally been asked “What exactly is an Apple computer anyway? Can I use it just like a PC?” Followed by “Why would I want to do that?”

As a Linux/Apple user, I am perfectly happy using Amazon for music downloads whenever iTunes fails to deliver. Presumably Apple wrote iTunes for the PC precisely to tap into a market that would otherwise be a big gap in their user base. I’m sure they’ll only do so for et Google OS (or Linux in general) if they perceive another such gap forming.

Interlocking board of directors would certainly appear “evil” right about now, but it is in both companies interest, unless they want to continue to be under the thumbs of Microsoft and Intel to work together for more open standards.

Problem is here that Apple at it’s heart isn’t all that interested in “open”, they just want to “open” Microsoft’s walled garden and substitute their own. I know at least one commenter here will claim that this isn’t so, but it is too, is too, is too.

The iTunes monopoly is eroding already. It will be to Apples benefit to have an iTunes presence everywhere they can get it, and as you suggest, the best way to do this would be a generic web interface to the iTunes store… maybe with missing features to encourage people to seek “the real thing”. But there is very little reason they couldn’t implement a full iTunes close on Google OS. It’s more a matter of policy than programming.