

Platforms Are Eating the World - zabramow
http://www.digitaltonto.com/2015/the-new-age-of-platforms/

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rpcope1
I think I dislike this blog post for many reasons, if nothing else because
this guy's understanding of the history of physics seems a little off.
Einstein discovered the photoelectric effect in 1905, which did in some ways
continue the experiments that would pave the way for modern quantum theory,
but was really more known for special and general relativity, which still are
being reconciled with quantum theory. To cast Einstein as someone who
"couldn't adapt" to the consequences of his earlier works or who was "cast
into obscurity" after the 1930's seems ignorant at best. While the Copenhagen
interpretation seems to be the prevailing view in academia now, to belittle
Einstein as almost a luddite in the face of the quantum revolution seems to
under estimate how strange and questionable "spooky action at a distance" was
at the time, especially in the face of thought experiments such as the EPR
paradox.

I also find the comparison of the quantum revolution in physics to the flash
in the pan shiny apps that seem to come and go every couple of years also very
questionable. To compare Facebook "as a platform" to the gravity of quantum
mechanics seems rather insulting to the Physicists of the early 20th century.

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aytekin
"We need to break free of past assumptions. We no longer live in a world of
products, but platforms."

Or products that are also platforms: Airbnb, Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Etsy,
Amazon

Even my own small SaaS product is also a platform. JotForm is a form builder,
but our form templates platform took off like crazy, and has 7500 templates.
The only platform where people can share ready to use forms with each other.
We are now creating similar platforms for form themes and form widgets.

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youngthugger
I don't think Einstein has been proven wrong. He just said we don't have a
full understanding of quantum physics. God playing dice hasn't won till this
day. So far its a black box we haven't cracked.

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zabramow
Other related important read is Chris Dixon's piece on tools --> network
[http://cdixon.org/2015/01/31/come-for-the-tool-stay-for-
the-...](http://cdixon.org/2015/01/31/come-for-the-tool-stay-for-the-network/)

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lucio
I don't see how quantum mechanics has something to do with: "lasers,
microprocessors and iPhones" Seems to be things based more on classical
physics...

QM maybe means D-wave computers...

~~~
rpcope1
For starters, lasers rely on population inversion and thus the idea that atoms
exist in discretized states, which are really consequences of the quantum
theory that emerges in the early 20th century. Likewise, modern solid state
physics, which enables semiconductors and LCDs, is really built upon quantum
mechanics.

