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There was a thread recently regarding "knowledge rot", which is what you are experiencing. Being as it is a closed platform, all of your hard-won knowledge is at the mercy of a board of suits answering to shareholders.

Microsoft finally capitualated, and Apple will too. But the force that causes it is developers refusing to work their plantation.

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I think that the force that caused it was not being #1 anymore. When Microsoft had the leading platform, it could have contempt for developers, we had to cater to their whims if we wanted wide distribution. Microsoft only opened after they missed the smartphone bandwagon and needed back programmers sympathy.

It was the same story for IBM, it will be the same for Apple: companies are friendly when they try to reach the first place. Then they close up.

You just said the same thing in a less-direct way. Developers stopped working with MS. So they opened up as a survival strategy.

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