5 ms·
Maybe "products" are actually bad when they lock you into an ecosystem like the company Steve Jobs headed does.
by damnyou 7y ago
Maybe "products" are actually bad when they lock you into an ecosystem like the company Steve Jobs headed does.
- eropple 7y agoYou get that Dropbox has been desperately trying to turn into an ecosystem for its entire existence, right?
- damnyou 7y agoYeah, VC is cancer.
- gnicholas 7y agoI typically hear the categories as feature, product, platform (aka ecosystem). Apple is a platform/ecosystem. Dropbox is a feature/product, but definitely not a platform. In SV, "just a feature" has a derogatory connotation, sort of like "lifestyle business". It causes people who run feature companies to try to get away from this characterization – even if it means stretching their business into something that it cannot easily become. This is especially true for features that have no moat, and which would therefore be Sherlocked [1] by companies like Apple. 1: https://www.howtogeek.com/297651/what-does-it-mean-when-a-company-sherlocks-an-app/ https://www.howtogeek.com/297651/what-does-it-mean-when-a-co...
- damnyou 7y agoYeah, you've accurately explained how Silicon Valley culture can ruin companies that would be completely sustainable otherwise. Thanks!
- gnicholas 7y agoFor the record, I think both of these derogatory connotations are crap, and I run a "feature" startup myself. Fortunately, we don't need venture investment since we're running breakeven. Even with issued patents and paid licensees, it's nigh impossible to find VCs interested in a feature company.
- chipotle_coyote 7y agoIt's true, Apple has deviously engineered it so their operating systems only run applications written for those operating systems. It's a good thing nobody else does that!
- damnyou 7y agoHow can I sync to iCloud on my Android phone and Linux desktop?