It’s hard to imagine why Jobs would have such a grudge against Flash to have prevented the single most popular piece of software in the world from working on the iPhone.  (yes Flash is more popular than any particular browser or OS)  But now it’s quite clear:

Had iPhone supported Flash, most of the killer apps would have been developed in Flash, and then easily ported over to the next hit phone

Many people focus on the first 2 benefits of first mover advantage: that you can have a head start in market share, and the extra time-value of money is nice too.  But what’s really the sweet spot is to develop a proprietary platform that wil be incompatible with anyone who tries to play catch-up further down the road.

To re-enforce my thesis that web “value chain is lengthening”, check out the lastest move by Meebo.  It’s a tell-tale sign of industry maturation and specialization, as products are more and more like assemblies of features developed by different parties.  Don’t immediately confuse this with the “loosely connected parts” theory though…that implies a world of [...]

I’ve always been fascinated by industry structure, and how companies position themselves along a vertical.  I think the mobile (cellular) industry structure is by far the most interesting and volatile.  It is a vertical where connectivity, hardware, OS, application/services, and content represent distinct personalities all wrestling for domination.
Why is mobile so unique? It is an [...]

Google is making the right bet. Computing is under going a form-factor change on two fronts, and Google must stay relevant in most as desktop computer slowly takes a back seat. The obvious of the two is the growth in mobile computing, where content providers will have to struggle against vertical interest of [...]

I love the new MySpace redesign.  It’s a great step at bridging the impact and engagement gap between online and TV/print advertising.  Good ads can be cool, beautiful, funny.  People will talk about quality commercials and share them as if they were content.
Think Superbowl ads, or VOGUE magazine—which is literally a book full of more [...]