Now, would any of us look at that store and say it should be the only shoe store anyone's ever allowed to visit? Of course not. It may be large, convenient, and the de facto option for many families. But competing shoe stores will add diversity into the mix, offering different items and maybe better prices. They'll take advantage of their own strengths to create new kinds of value for shoppers -- better customer service, for example, or easier ways to check out. Why wouldn't we want that choice?

Competition may not be good for the retailer -- particularly when the retailer is a giant tech company that makes loads of money by owning the only store its customers can utilize -- but competition is almost always good for the consumer. For users, choice doesn't equal chaos. Choice equals power.

Android's app selection is already growing at an alarming rate -- more than three times the rate of Apple's, according to . The introduction of high-profile supplementary app stores like Amazon's is only going to speed up that growth, while simultaneously expanding the marketplace in new and interesting ways.

Apple can slant things however it wishes, but mark my words: This is the beginning of something big.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the author of the blog. You can find him on both and .