According to people I have known who negotiated with them, Apple was far, far harder to deal with, and paid less than other customers. The "PITA" factor I find credible.

Apple TV comes to my mind...

The Israelis probably did see far more wider uses for this technology, but it seems to me Microsoft just outbid the others and then marketed this only as a game controller. Though, I wouldn't be too surprised if we were to see more uses for this popping up in the next version of Windows or somewhere else.

Given how recently it was realeased, it's hard to say that the rumor of Kinect coming to Windows has been kicking around for a while. But it wouldn't surprise anyone at this point: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2011/0120/Is-Ki...

It's not exactly a "rumor", Gates and Ballmer have been talking up its eventual PC use since well before the Kinect's release. http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/bill-gates-natal-for-wind...

Obviously military, industrial, surveillance, security, shopper tracking in stores, and cashier tracking for cash businesses, would all be possible uses. Hook it up to a MakerBot and you can use it to disassemble things as well as assemble them.