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Re: ADTPro beta available
Paul Schlyter wrote:
In article <TOmdnXjlIf84jivZnZ2dnUVZ_o6dnZ2d@comcast.com>,
Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote:
mdj wrote:
I'm not sure I like this definition either :-) Many platforms have only
a single implementation, yet the definition still stands.
*Successful* ones have multiple implementations.
Does a non-successful platform become a nonplatform just because it
didn't succeed?
Theoretically, it remains a platform--practically, it becomes a non-
platform, in the sense that it is useless as a vehicle for application
deployment. ;-)
More seriously, refer to my _de jure_ definition of a platform just
following the quote above in my post. In principle, many "potential"
platforms have been defined that never achieved enough success to
become "practical" platforms for application deployment.
Pragmatically, the _de facto_ argument from success in the marketplace
is the only one that matters.
And what about a successful platform at its early stages, while it still
only have a single implementation - is it then a non-platform?
Any platform with hopes for success will be very careful in its
definition, so that later "backward compatible" implementations can
be easily created to satisfy growing market needs.
I.e. is the word "platform" defined by commercial success rather than
technical merits?
Practically, it *is* defined by success, since all the unsuccessful
platforms are irrelevant.
Technical merit is clearly also irrelevant, since a huge number of
very significant platforms were never designed to anticipate the
degree of market success they have achieved, or have long since
outgrown the foresightedness of their creators.
But this leads in the direction of a critique of "platform goodness"
which is certainly a neverending discussion. ;-)
Say what you will about Microsoft, they have been a powerful force
of reality in a marketplace once addicted to fantasy. The message
is simple and Darwinian: do a better job (than we do) giving customers
what they want (a capable, affordable, unified platform), or die.
Nah, you've misunderstood Microsoft's message. Instead it says: "do
a better job than we do in advertising, brainwashing customers to
believe there's no other feasible option than us".....
OK--but any marketing person will tell you that perception, however
achieved or misguided, *is* reality in the marketplace. This is
particularly apparent in the area of politics. ;-)
Put another way, people get what they deserve. If they don't like
it, smarten up the market!
-michael
Fast Sudoku solver for Apple II's!
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."