DISQUS

T M · 1 year ago

The short answer is: Yes, they are still evil.

Btw - I just got a banner welcoming me as a google reader when I actually clicked through my desktop RSS Reader.

Maggy Young · 1 year ago

Most big cos. tend or have to be a bit evil. But think you're right Nick, F/Book is a very young company & these things take time & large cos. have to put a lot of thought into major developments. Should be enough just for now that F/Book is taking steps down that road.

CoryS · 1 year ago

Better thing to ponder is finding an open platform case study that is successful, sustainable and profitable (not just hyped up in ST value). I agree with Umair's assertion that Facebook is closed, but don't agree that Google is open as its profit driver is equally closed (= have you tried to build a partner list from your most valuable publishers from AdWords? most valuable advertisers from AdSense? You can't, that's Goog's job and it is opaque for a reason).

I've heard the phrase, "closed is for leaders, open is for everyone else" in reference to Apple's position in media. Also, M$ has made a lot of money by not letting other players compete at the OS level. Two pretty solid examples of a closed strategy that meets the successful, sustainable and profitable hurdles.

Put another way, if Facebook keeps pushing ground breaking functionality and innovation, then no one will ask whether it matters if they are open or closed. Slow down even a little bit and everyone starts asking.