3 ms·

Google is extremely good at commoditizing their complement. A whole lot of their strategy makes sense in this light: Android, "Project Ara"/Phoneblocks, Chromeb

• wes-exp 13y ago
  This strategy makes sense when we are talking about actual commodities that are interchangeable, like gasoline, but the effects are a lot more ambiguous when we are talking about unique inputs to a business like technology. As an example, consider the current topic of broadband. In theory net neutrality is beneficial in terms of keeping costs down. This is beneficial for web companies. However, consider that without net neutrality, broadband providers have additional business models available that increase overall revenue. This additional revenue can help drive broadband R&D, which in turn could actually benefit web companies in the long run. Making technology cheaper is good in the short run, but in the long run it may interfere with innovation, which benefits from things not being cheap, but actually profitable to produce.