I`m betting that Jobs has learned his lesson.

You can see the signs in his partnerships and sourcing agreements. Earlier this month, Apple announced that Hewlett-Packard would sell Apple`s iPod Minis, expanding a year-long relationship that has helped move iPods to Windows-centric PC users, and will enable Apple to access HP`s immense retail distribution channel. HP has further helped by adding iTunes software to every new PC it sells. (Take that, Dell Jukebox!)

Then there are Apple`s much-touted, oft-delayed plans to load iTunes software onto Motorola phones. Allegedly slowed by carriers` fears that they`ll be cut out of the action, the deal is still alive, according to executives I`ve talked to.

Consider Jobs` announcement—at Apple`s Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this month—that Apple will switch its Macs from IBM`s PowerPC standard to Intel chips starting next year. The alliance could give Apple a much stronger entrée into the digital living room. Apple set-top boxes, hubs, and media centers, anyone? Naturally, the iPod plays nicely in any digital home scenario.

There is one big caveat. For iPod and iTunes to survive and thrive, consumers will need to be able to buy Apple devices that do a lot more than play the AAC and MP3 standards, and soon. So far, Apple has refused to budge.

You can see why. It`s minting money from people buying iPods, buying music from the iTunes store, and loading their personal music collections. And at the same time, it`s locking Real, Microsoft, and other competitors from its deck. What`s not to like?

But Apple`s lock on the market is close to ending, just as it ended for the Apple II.

To keep its dominance, Apple will have to do some ballsy things, like create a portable subscription service, integrate WiFi, cellular, and video and—yes—open up the iPod to competitive standards like Windows Media and Real.

Most PC users, after all, already have multiple media players on their machines. Consumers will ultimately require that digital music players support a wide array of standards, just as DVD players play DVDs, DVD-Rs, DVD+RWs, and so on. Apple hasn`t provided any of these added features yet because it hasn`t had to, but it will eventually.

I have no more access to Jobs` plans than you do. But I`m betting that, when the time is right, he`ll add the extra features that he needs in order to keep the iPod from becoming—like the Apple II—a colorful relic of technology`s past.