

How does an API become a platform? - rpsubhub
http://www.quora.com/How-does-an-API-become-a-platform

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jimbobimbo
Unfortunately, noone who was trying to answer the question, seems to know what
really platform is. People like to shrug off Microsoft as an old borg who lost
its way in innovation, but these guys are the ones who actually know what
platform is and what does it takes to keep 20+ years of backwards
compatibility and workarounds for buggy clients in the code. Spolski was
complaining that Microsoft invents too much new frameworks, but the truth is
that even though there're 10s new frameworks, the old ones are still there and
they will work if you need to use them in your rusty old LoB application. I
can hardly imagine Microsoft doing with their API the same thing Twitter or
Facebook does with theirs. Platforms can't change overnight because the owner
is in search for monetization, otherwise it's not a platform, but a joke.

