Quote to Note: Walled Gardens
August 30, 2018
I spotted a quote which I immediately tucked into my “Research” folder. Here it is:
The trouble with a walled garden is that if the thing outside the garden is bigger and better than the thing inside the garden, then the wall only serves to keep new customers out rather than lock them in.
The statement appears in “What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network?” The history of this early Microsoft adventure is fascinating. The write up does a good job of bringing alive the thought process of smart people essentially unable to think about a problem outside of their beige cubicle.
But the quote has relevance today because walled gardens may be coming back in vogue. Apple is a walled garden. Facebook is a walled garden. Even Twitter is a walled garden. And if services are not becoming walled gardens, the gardeners are busy fixing fences, locking gates, and planting thorny hedges.
Worth reading the cited article.
Stephen E Arnold, August 30, 2018
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
