shutting down google reader - PRCog's Gear Grindings

I don’t have my copy here, but there is a bit in Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 about the difference building a successful site or business and building a successful platform, or more accurately reaching platform ‘status.’

One creates something others can build upon and around – grow a community.

The other is a sole building in a desert. And when that building doesn’t have a reason to be populated any longer there’s nothing for anyone else to do related to that building and they all leave.

Google Reader wasn’t just another Google service – it was a platform. Don’t believe me? Continue reading Why Shutting Down Google Reader Actually Hurts