App stores and software ecosystems

Michael Mace
Principal, Rubicon Consulting

With the success of the iPhone app store and Salesforce.com, almost every major software and mobile phone company is trying to create its own software platform.

Most are doomed to fail, because they don't take into account the business and technical dynamics that cause a computing platform to succeed.

We'll discuss the obscure and meandering history of computing platforms, starting with ENIAC in 1946, and identify how platforms evolved and what makes them successful. Armed with that information, we'll attempt to predict how software platforms might evolve next, and what that means for people who want to thrive in the software industry.

Slides:

Download the slides for this presentation in PDF format.

About the speaker:

Michael Mace is a 20-year veteran of Silicon Valley with a heavy background in computing platforms. He is currently a principal at Rubicon Consulting, a strategy consulting firm that focuses exclusively on tech companies. Prior to Rubicon, he was chief competitive officer of PalmSource, where he worked with Palm OS licensees including Sony, Samsung, and Handspring. He was also VP of Product Planning at Palm, Inc. Michael held a variety of leadership positions at Apple Computer, including director of Mac platform marketing, director of marketing for the Home and Education Division, and director of Customer & Competitive Analysis. He also founded Century Software, a PostScript development company that produced the world's first downloadable PostScript type fonts. His weblog is Mobile Opportunity.

Contact information:

Michael Mace