Canonical has to make money somehow. The Ubuntu "music store" sales probably don't net much (cf. Linux Mint earnings [1]); I don't think that Mr. Shuttleworth has an infinite cash reservoir to sink into Ubuntu, either.
Canonical can and should try to monetize Ubuntu the best it can. Tablets, TVs, and other 'thinner' clients seem to be the market trend, and I think that Canonical could stand to make some money here. Even a little is good.
It's possible to pursue a different form factor and still make a compelling desktop OS. If Canonical is able to grow, they can afford to spend more on building an across the board experience for all types of devices. Maybe they're slightly distracted from their original mission statement, and maybe this results in a slightly lessened desktop experience, but someone has to pay the bills. Maybe they'll even turn a profit. I'd certainly love to see them grow and flourish as a company. How awesome would it be to have Ubuntu-powered devices that run on optimized hardware and can sync, share, etc?
I'm not sure why you have quite so many downvotes.
Where I disagree here is that I don't see what Canonical's business model will be on consumer devices.
On the server/enterprise level it is easy, just charge for support services.
If they provide a free open source solution for tablets for example , unless they are going to manufacture their own tablets they will not be getting any licensing money off the tablet manufacturers per tablet sold unless they distribute some of their software under a non-open license.
They might be able to make some money through Ubuntu one and selling file syncing and sharing through that but if the system is open enough then there is nothing stopping a tablet manufacturer building a tablet that comes with their own syncing solution rather than Canonical's.
They are unlikely to be able to strike good deals with major content providers without having to install DRM in their software and have signed software/hardware which would basically turn them into yet another proprietary vendor.
Canonical can and should try to monetize Ubuntu the best it can. Tablets, TVs, and other 'thinner' clients seem to be the market trend, and I think that Canonical could stand to make some money here. Even a little is good.
It's possible to pursue a different form factor and still make a compelling desktop OS. If Canonical is able to grow, they can afford to spend more on building an across the board experience for all types of devices. Maybe they're slightly distracted from their original mission statement, and maybe this results in a slightly lessened desktop experience, but someone has to pay the bills. Maybe they'll even turn a profit. I'd certainly love to see them grow and flourish as a company. How awesome would it be to have Ubuntu-powered devices that run on optimized hardware and can sync, share, etc?
[1] http://installubuntu.net/linux-mint-diverts-banshee-revenue/
edit: Why the downvotes? I'd appreciate it if you let me know what I said wrong so that I can analyze and possibly correct.