
WidgetLaboratory Strikes Back At Ning Where It Hurts - nickb
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/23/widgetlaboratory-strikes-back-at-ning-where-it-hurts/
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SwellJoe
I always grimace a little when I hear about a business that is built entirely
on being in the good graces of another company. I don't know the story here,
beyond what's in the article, but I know that I'd never want to be in that
position.

Facebook apps, Ning and MySpace widgets, iPhone apps. All are closed
platforms, and for that reason alone, dangerous ways to try to make a living.
I'll probably build an iPhone app, and a widget or two, but I'd never base the
core of my business on it.

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furiouslol
Windows developers were not faring too badly (at least in the past before the
web phenom arrives)

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SwellJoe
Unless they happened to build something _too_ successful.

There was a time when the leading word processor was not Word, the leading
spreadsheet was not Excel, and the leading web browser was not Internet
Explorer. These are merely some obvious examples.

Of course, this is one of the great reasons why the web is wonderful for
consumers: No one can own the platform.

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rw
Hopefully no one will ever own the internet platform, but we know it could
happen.

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brandonkm
Really seems that Ning was genuinely threatened by what widgetlaboratory was
supplying on their site. A lot of sites on Ning relied on them and widget labs
response was very much justified given the context of the situation(thousands
of users unable to use the site they built because core functionalities are
gone).

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azharcs
Another example of how "platforms almost always win against the applications
built over it".

