I was so frustrated. The number of times companies take the lead then sit on their lead until it dies has often bothered me deeply!
The downside to being a passionate customer & engineer.
—
I felt similarly with Netscape. If Navigator had been consistently both web browser and editor, it would have been a better product, a real service in keeping the web a two way tool for most people.
Tim Berners-Lee’s vision tied creation & browsing together, which is why the web happened at all.
Staying true to that would have produced more value, and maintained enough (constructive) lock in for Netscape to keep innovating in a way that mattered.
Instead they announced their imagined threat to Windows, before that threat was realistic, then drowned in Microsoft’s response. And the disparity in their emphasis on browsing vs. creation left a big hole in the side of their boat, leaving them extremely vulnerable to browser competitors.
Microsoft was convicted in court for product tying & other over anti-competitive behavior.
But Netscape was convicted in the market for not fulfilling the full circle value of the web they were pioneering. They commoditized themselves. And the web has never recovered from the unnecessary creation/browsing dichotomy.
The downside to being a passionate customer & engineer.
—
I felt similarly with Netscape. If Navigator had been consistently both web browser and editor, it would have been a better product, a real service in keeping the web a two way tool for most people.
Tim Berners-Lee’s vision tied creation & browsing together, which is why the web happened at all.
Staying true to that would have produced more value, and maintained enough (constructive) lock in for Netscape to keep innovating in a way that mattered.
Instead they announced their imagined threat to Windows, before that threat was realistic, then drowned in Microsoft’s response. And the disparity in their emphasis on browsing vs. creation left a big hole in the side of their boat, leaving them extremely vulnerable to browser competitors.
Microsoft was convicted in court for product tying & other over anti-competitive behavior.
But Netscape was convicted in the market for not fulfilling the full circle value of the web they were pioneering. They commoditized themselves. And the web has never recovered from the unnecessary creation/browsing dichotomy.
I was so mad at them! (Laughing tears emoji)