4 ms·

That statement is too general. Obviously it's a good idea for desktop software developers to build on the Windows platform. I build websites on the "IE platfo

That statement is too general. Obviously it's a good idea for desktop software developers to build on the Windows platform. I build websites on the "IE platform" in that I rely on IE for distribution. Does Facebook have a history of cutting off services that use their API's? Also, Facebook can implement your idea even if you're not on their platform. Look at FB Places. I don't see how using the FB platform makes it any more likely that they will move into your space.

chrischen 16y ago
But if you're dependent on Facebook it can also cut you off, or at least not support you anymore. It's not about preventing competition, it's about your supplier becoming your competitor.
- mgummelt 16y ago
  If you build on any platform that you don't control (which every software developer does), you can be cut off. The question is whether or not Facebook has a history of doing this. I'm not aware of one. A platform becoming your competitor is fair game, and doesn't imply they will do anything sneaky like making their platform any less accessible to you. Microsoft is in the Operating System business, but MS Office is a fair competitor to other office suites that run on Windows. I understand the concern about Facebook though, because they aren't (yet) a platform like Windows is. Microsoft started out making the platform, and then built some nice user facing applications to go on top of it. MS Office uses the same OS system calls that are available to every Windows developer. Facebook started out as a user facing product (facebook.com) and then pushed down into the stack. The issue with that is that facebook.com and other Facebook products are based on leaky abstractions. They don't just sit on top of the Facebook platform. They can do things with the social graph that no 3rd party application can do. This is where Facebook can have an unfair advantage, and why people are worried about building on top of them. The good thing is that Facebook is working on sealing off the abstraction barrier between their platform and their products. Look at the evolution of their API's. MUCH better social applications are going to pop up once we can all build the same user-facing products that Facebook can build. The great thing is that it's in their best interest. Facebook is much more powerful as Windows than as MS Office.

chrischen 16y ago

But if you're dependent on Facebook it can also cut you off, or at least not support you anymore. It's not about preventing competition, it's about your supplier becoming your competitor.

mgummelt 16y ago
If you build on any platform that you don't control (which every software developer does), you can be cut off. The question is whether or not Facebook has a history of doing this. I'm not aware of one. A platform becoming your competitor is fair game, and doesn't imply they will do anything sneaky like making their platform any less accessible to you. Microsoft is in the Operating System business, but MS Office is a fair competitor to other office suites that run on Windows. I understand the concern about Facebook though, because they aren't (yet) a platform like Windows is. Microsoft started out making the platform, and then built some nice user facing applications to go on top of it. MS Office uses the same OS system calls that are available to every Windows developer. Facebook started out as a user facing product (facebook.com) and then pushed down into the stack. The issue with that is that facebook.com and other Facebook products are based on leaky abstractions. They don't just sit on top of the Facebook platform. They can do things with the social graph that no 3rd party application can do. This is where Facebook can have an unfair advantage, and why people are worried about building on top of them. The good thing is that Facebook is working on sealing off the abstraction barrier between their platform and their products. Look at the evolution of their API's. MUCH better social applications are going to pop up once we can all build the same user-facing products that Facebook can build. The great thing is that it's in their best interest. Facebook is much more powerful as Windows than as MS Office.