You laud appstore as some kind of grand innovation. It was not: software repositories for linux distributives or Steam existed long long before Appstore came around, y could find what you want, press a button and boom, the application is installed on a device! The necessity of same system for smartphones was beyond obviois, it would have appeared no matter what. What was unique in what Apple did was locking down the device, prohibiting all other methods of app installation, and silly people applaud them for making everyone wearing these shiny handcuffs.