I think ambition beat them. The idea was a two-way data exchange; if you use the facebook platform to build apps with user's data, a. it might be in your inter

I think ambition beat them. The idea was a two-way data exchange; if you use the facebook platform to build apps with user's data, a. it might be in your interest to help keep the data updated. Say, if your app depends on an accurate home address, you'll ask the user to update it. b. you might generate more data or content. Say, to publicize your app you might ask the user to post on facebook. Moreover, it's always advantageous to have other developers depend and build on your platform. It makes your platform richer by adding functionality you may not have the resources to develop, and gives you leverage (ie, Apple and Google's mobile OSes). If I recall correctly it wasn't "full access to all of friend's data", but similar access to what you had on the user? I thought it was very exciting. I could think of a ton of potential apps, and got to use it at a hackathon once before they limited the access. Back then I thought it was a bummer, but the move made a lot of sense.