Apple doesn’t create only the computers lots of people are using nowadays. They provide a service no other company in the IT industry provides.

A platform.

They create a platform well suited for other people provide applications they have either no interest or hands to develop. This enable several individuals to provide solutions and services at low cost and—in the majority of the cases—high quality.

But why does that happen?

In my standpoint, I’d guess the main reason is the fact that individuals are passionate about a subject, making them excel in the solution they’re providing. This usually happens because they’re scratching their own itches, providing a solution for themselves instead of implementing solutions to problems they’ll never have. And this leads to another interesting point: diversity.

The same problem can—and will—be solved differently by different people. If you take in account the following problem statement: “I need to upload pictures to Flickr”. There are several different applications that provide a solution for this problem: “Flickr Uploadr”, “FlickrExport” and “Courier” to mention a few.

If we look again at the problem statement: “I need to upload pictures to Flickr,” “FlickrExport” and “Courier” wouldn’t exist, because “Flickr Uploadr” is free and actually works.

But then, why do they exist?

Because not only problems can be solved differently by different people, but also different solutions will be preferred by different people. People have different needs and expectations.

The problem doesn’t define a niche by itself, but will define once it is placed with the audience it targets.