Seems pretty easy to solve extrapolating current trends:
You have no app installed for action X. Would you like to go to the [Mozilla|Chrome] action app store for options?
In the Action App Store:
Below are the top N action apps supporting X, ranked by [popularity|featured|rating|price]. All apps in the [Mozilla|Chrome] app store come from verified providers who follow the XYZ privacy policy.
Most common packages of functionality would quickly be covered by roll-up apps, but around the fringes – where new capabilities emerge – there'd be openings for new entrants.
(In fact, the implied functionality/market model reminds me a bit of two old dreams of the software future:
• the 'Superdistribution' concept of Objective-C-creator Brad Cox
• the composite-document approach of Apple's early-90s OpenDoc initiative
Each saw future software being an assemblage of capabilities from many sources, enabling a richer provider ecosystem.)
That is not extrapolating. Mac OS X Lion already implements it for applications.
If you double-click a file named "test.hn", the Finder gives you the option to cancel opening, to choose an application, or to search the Mac App Store.
It turns out you can do searches like "extension:hn" or "uti:com.adobe.pdf" in the app store application.
(and yes, when reading about is, I thought of OpenDoc, too. I guess this scheme may fail for the same reason OpenDoc failed, that is: because engrained parties have no interest in making it easier for their customers to move elsewhere)
You have no app installed for action X. Would you like to go to the [Mozilla|Chrome] action app store for options?
In the Action App Store:
Below are the top N action apps supporting X, ranked by [popularity|featured|rating|price]. All apps in the [Mozilla|Chrome] app store come from verified providers who follow the XYZ privacy policy.
Most common packages of functionality would quickly be covered by roll-up apps, but around the fringes – where new capabilities emerge – there'd be openings for new entrants.
(In fact, the implied functionality/market model reminds me a bit of two old dreams of the software future:
• the 'Superdistribution' concept of Objective-C-creator Brad Cox
• the composite-document approach of Apple's early-90s OpenDoc initiative
Each saw future software being an assemblage of capabilities from many sources, enabling a richer provider ecosystem.)