There's lots of talk these days about Facebook being the next Microsoft. Is it?
The main question for Facebook, as it is with nearly every interesting web idea, is how they will make money. CNN Money pointed out today that Facebook has taken an interesting route to profitability: by opening up the doors and letting developers make applications that users want. In some ways, Facebook is akin to a real-estate developer. They own the property and are fostering other people to create the businesses on it. The internal competition is clearly good for Facebook--when applications die because of errors or lameness, Facebook isn't as fault. Their brand is protected, while developers take all the risk and engage in the competition.
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Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.
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