For years, Apple evangelized an open source core for their operating system. Now that competitors have jumped on the openness of Internet standards, they’re desperately hoping that Apple’s closed approach to the iPods, iPhone and iTunes content will hurt the company, according to CNNMoney on Thursday.

Apple’s approach to a controlled customer experience for its iPods and iPhone has the competition fuming and looking for ways to compete. Openness and customer choice are the latest mantra in the jabs at Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs.

"There�s a strong case that all this talk about a closed Apple amounts to little more than barbs from jealous competitors. After all, Jobs & Co. have almost single-handedly created a multi-billion-dollar market for sleek, pocketable computers that double as music players and phones. (Before the iPod and today�s iPhone hype, such gadgets were hardly objects of mainstream lust.)," Jon Fortt wrote.

The key to fast acceptance and explosive market share growth has been that control and vision for the customer experience. Apple’s 120 million iPods have more than 70 percent market share for all music players.

Even Microsoft has admitted that they had to get control of their Zune customer experience when they gave up on the Plays-for-Sure open approach. "Looking at who we were up against, and how they got to their success, we made the decision to go the sort of closed route," Jason Reindorp, the Zune Marketing Director, said regarding Microsoft�s decision link its music store directly to the player. "That is kind of [goes] against Microsoft�s DNA, because we tend to be more of a platform and partner-type company. That said, we needed to make sure we could guarantee a certain quality of experience from beginning to end."

While the design of the hardware and software may require a certain amount of control in this age of complex personal electronics gadgets, some competitors see the control extending a bit too far into the relationship with content providers. The recent spats between Apple, the labels, and NBC Universal are viewed as openings for the competition, especially Microsoft.

Mr. Reindorp pointed to the recent interest by Bill Gates in the Zune product. Gates has advised the Zune team to do what Microsoft does best, "make best friends with all the content owners."

Microsoft succeeded in the business community by becoming their best friends. If Microsoft and Apple’s other competitors can leverage the same kind of business relationship with content providers who have been stung by Mr. Jobs’ control in that arena as well, they may have found an exploitable flaw in Apple’s strategy.