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This is not endemic to Facebook. It applies to any platform. Apple, eBay, Amazon, etc. When you build a business on their platform, you don't have a business.
by maratd 15y ago
This is not endemic to Facebook. It applies to any platform. Apple, eBay, Amazon, etc.
When you build a business on their platform, you don't have a business. You have a product on their platform and it is their product. They are simply taking a hands-off approach and reaping the benefits. They can shut you down at any time and they will, when it suits their interests.
That is the key here. That conflict of interest. Most of the time, it isn't an issue ... but when it comes to the surface, you will be thrown under the bus.
Also, the customers you think you have ... they're not your customers. If you went to a different platform, those customers would not come along. The customers, they are their customers, not yours.
- tsunamifury 15y agoIf you were big enough to be a threat, then you have a pretty good problem on your hands. Yes your platform host might throw you under the bus, but I'm betting you could turn it around.
- jseliger 15y agoThis is not endemic to Facebook. It applies to any platform. Apple, eBay, Amazon, etc. I'm not sure this is really true. If you build a regular application for Windows, Linux, or OS X, Microsoft, Red Hat, or Apple can't control whether I install your application. No one "approves" Firefox for OS X. Curated, for lack of a better term, applications only appear on particular platforms -- cell phones, sub-sections of websites, and so forth.
- bstrand 15y agoThe desktop is moving in this direction as well. Your example of OS X is shaky in particular, given the App Store. Even if it's still _possible_ in the future, acquiring apps outside the official channel will be exceptional, done only by enthusiasts.
- dhimes 15y agoI was going to say the same- I bet it would have been done long ago if, for example, MS thought they could get away with it. I'm curious as to how the law is going to interpret this in the future. The closed ecosystem of ios may be a bad (in my mind) precedent.
- thematt 15y agoThe time has come when Microsoft does think they can get away with it. All Metro apps on Windows 8 will have to go through their app store approval process.
- dhimes 15y agoI really hate this trend. That's one thing good that Java brought to the table. Everyone had Java installed, so getting my apps "installed" was just a matter of getting them downloaded. If only this was the year of the Linux deskto... oh, nevermind.
- wnight 15y agoThis is why I always help people crack their devices, even if they're mainly interested in warez. We need to ability to work around censorship which we'll lose if we let ourselves be locked down.