A well tended walled garden in the form of an App Store for Apple Tablet computers and newer consumer-oriented computers <i>would</i> provide a lot of value.<p>To most users, a general purpose computer is a <i>power tool</i> that they'll never make full use of.  What most people really want in a personal computer is a backplane for various <i>appliances</i>.  They just want to buy those things, install them, and have them just work.  If an App Store ecosystem could mean Apple could completely shepherd users and take care of their every need, then this would add value in much the same way.  And Apple would be able to figure out how to market this and get paid handsomely.  This is the exactly the direction that Apple is going with their retail stores.  (Especially with the revamp to increase the social interactivity.)