I really don't see how Appcelerator can provide a better IDE (and charge for it), seeing as how it is all written in Javascript.

I can't think of any tools, short of some kind of WYSIWYG tool, which I don't think they have the resources to create.

They already tried consulting, using their product with all of their clients. That has failed.

I think they're banking on support, but haven't all successful support-backed open source companies started out as projects first, and THEN were turned into companies? Is it feasible to put the cart before the horse when trying to make money from an open source framework? (Adobe, Microsoft, et al can do this because they have massive amounts of money- far more than 4.1M)

I'm not trying to bash them or be antagonistic- I honestly want to know how something like this can make money.

agree... After watching their screencast I was asking myself those same questions. I don't see them making a dime, but maybe they have some trick cards to play.