5 ms·

Does the same apply to Facebook? And if not, is it likely to within the next 12 months? It seems like a lot of developers/startups put their eggs in the FB bas

by donall 14y ago

Does the same apply to Facebook? And if not, is it likely to within the next 12 months? It seems like a lot of developers/startups put their eggs in the FB basket. I wonder if, from a funding perspective, that behaviour would set off alarm bells today?

pg 14y ago
Facebook seems somewhere between Twitter and iOS.
- dave1619 14y ago
  Would you consider iOS and Android similar in terms of risk and developer potential?
  - pg 14y ago
    To most startups we fund, iOS is way more important. Nearly all build for iOS first and then maybe one day port to Android. There are a few exceptions like Kyte (http://kytephone.com http://kytephone.com) who use Android to do things you can't do on iOS. And of course Apportable (http://apportable.com http://apportable.com) has been very successful auto-porting iOS apps to Android.
    - skibrah 14y ago
      do you see an API becoming a "platform" in the same sense as iOS/Android or will they remain services that provide content and facilitate specific features?
    - w1ntermute 14y ago
      > Nearly all build for iOS first and then maybe one day port to Android. It's unfortunate that this persists even though Android now has twice the smartphone marketshare iOS has. It doesn't seem like things will be changing any time soon either.
      - wmeredith 14y ago
        Android has market share, but iOS has the profit (money and interest).
      - ryanwaggoner 14y ago
        From what I hear, a ton of those Android phones are really crappy hardware that's given away free by cell phone providers. Android's 70% marketshare isn't all (or even mostly) the Nexus. So it's not even clear whether many of those phones could even run a lot of apps, let alone run them well. Additionally, for various reasons, iOS seems to be both "hipper" and more profitable for developers. This could be related to the point above, if most of the Android phones are owned by people who don't use apps much, let alone buy them.
        w1ntermute 14y ago
        > Android's 70% marketshare isn't all (or even mostly) the Nexus. That's very true. However, even amongst those in the know (e.g., those in the HN community), almost no one uses an Android phone, even the Nexus, as their daily driver. Even the best Android phone is intrinsically viewed as inferior to the iPhone, which is why I said I don't see things changing any time soon. So I wonder how much of that decision not to build for Android is based on personal bias. We see similar things on the web when it comes to supporting WebKit-based browsers first, with Firefox and IE having secondary importance. For example, many of the "hip" webdevs use experimental features that aren't available in non-WebKit renderers.
        usaar333 14y ago
        > almost no one uses an Android phone, even the Nexus, as their daily driver Out of curiosity, what field are you in? At my company in SF doing heavy systems work, we're 80% Android
        w1ntermute 14y ago
        I'm technically in biotech, but it involves significant software development. Pretty much everyone uses a Mac/iPhone, although the software (for running molecular simulations) itself is run on Linux clusters.
    - dave1619 14y ago
      If anybody has suggestions for a good Android outsourcing company, please add them here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4332873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4332873
- donall 14y ago
  They seem to have become more of a data aggregator and provider than a platform.
- samstave 14y ago
  Sounds like we need a standardized definition of what "Platform" means.

by donall 14y ago

pg 14y ago

Facebook seems somewhere between Twitter and iOS.

dave1619 14y ago
Would you consider iOS and Android similar in terms of risk and developer potential?
- pg 14y ago
  To most startups we fund, iOS is way more important. Nearly all build for iOS first and then maybe one day port to Android. There are a few exceptions like Kyte (http://kytephone.com http://kytephone.com) who use Android to do things you can't do on iOS. And of course Apportable (http://apportable.com http://apportable.com) has been very successful auto-porting iOS apps to Android.
  - skibrah 14y ago
    do you see an API becoming a "platform" in the same sense as iOS/Android or will they remain services that provide content and facilitate specific features?
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    > Nearly all build for iOS first and then maybe one day port to Android. It's unfortunate that this persists even though Android now has twice the smartphone marketshare iOS has. It doesn't seem like things will be changing any time soon either.
    - wmeredith 14y ago
      Android has market share, but iOS has the profit (money and interest).
    - ryanwaggoner 14y ago
      From what I hear, a ton of those Android phones are really crappy hardware that's given away free by cell phone providers. Android's 70% marketshare isn't all (or even mostly) the Nexus. So it's not even clear whether many of those phones could even run a lot of apps, let alone run them well. Additionally, for various reasons, iOS seems to be both "hipper" and more profitable for developers. This could be related to the point above, if most of the Android phones are owned by people who don't use apps much, let alone buy them.
      - w1ntermute 14y ago
        > Android's 70% marketshare isn't all (or even mostly) the Nexus. That's very true. However, even amongst those in the know (e.g., those in the HN community), almost no one uses an Android phone, even the Nexus, as their daily driver. Even the best Android phone is intrinsically viewed as inferior to the iPhone, which is why I said I don't see things changing any time soon. So I wonder how much of that decision not to build for Android is based on personal bias. We see similar things on the web when it comes to supporting WebKit-based browsers first, with Firefox and IE having secondary importance. For example, many of the "hip" webdevs use experimental features that aren't available in non-WebKit renderers.
        usaar333 14y ago
        > almost no one uses an Android phone, even the Nexus, as their daily driver Out of curiosity, what field are you in? At my company in SF doing heavy systems work, we're 80% Android
        w1ntermute 14y ago
        I'm technically in biotech, but it involves significant software development. Pretty much everyone uses a Mac/iPhone, although the software (for running molecular simulations) itself is run on Linux clusters.
  - dave1619 14y ago
    If anybody has suggestions for a good Android outsourcing company, please add them here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4332873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4332873
donall 14y ago
They seem to have become more of a data aggregator and provider than a platform.
samstave 14y ago
Sounds like we need a standardized definition of what "Platform" means.