Platform = (Programmable + Customizable) Systems / Marc Andreesen

Marc Andreessen (Google), co-founder of Mosaic + Netscape + Ning, attempts to give a definition to "Internet platform" in his blog post: The three kinds of platforms you need on the Internet. Key points:

• A "platform" is a system that can be programmed and therefore customized by outside developers
• If you can program it, then it's a platform. If you can't, then it's not.
• There are three levels of Internet platforms:
  1. Access API: developer's application code lives outside the platform, and call into the platform via a web services API to draw on data and services.
     • Examples: Flickr, Del.icio.us, eBay, etc.
     • Problems: The entire burden of building and running the application itself is left entirely to the developer. Requires very high technical expertise and financial resources.
  2. Plug-In API: apps run elsewhere, but inject functionality into the platform via a plug-in API.
     • Examples: Photoshop, Firefox, Facebook.
     • Problems: The entire burden of building and running the application itself is left entirely to the developer. Technical + financial burdens on developers can rapidly become overwhelming.
  3. Runtime Environment: applications run inside the platform itself.
     • Examples: Ning, Salesforce.com, Amazon, Second Life, Akamai
     
     

As with Cliff notes, you don't actually learn anything from reading the gists, so go read the full article on blog.pmarca.com (indexed by SML Search)

SML Thank You

I would like to thank David Bausola (Del.icio.us / Google / LinkedIn) for sending this wonderful article to me via Del.icio.us! (David Bausola / SML Thank You)

SML Copyright Notice

Copyright 2007 See-ming Lee 李思明 SML / SML Pro Blog / SML Universe. All rights reserved.

City = Brand

As a special report in the June 14, 2007 issue of Business Week, writer Tom Lowry discusses how New York City Major Michael R. Bloomberg applies brand management techniques to New York City:

1. New York City = Corporation
   
   
2. Citizen = Customers
   
   
3. Sanitation workers, police officers, clearks, deputy commissioners = Talent
   
   
4. Major = Chief Executive
   
   
5. NYC & Co. = a not-for-profit entity consisted of three existing operations
   
   
6. Annual marketing budget = tripled = $22 million USD
   
   
7. George Fertitta = Brand management for Coca-Cola (KO), Perry Ellis (PERY), Walt Disney = NYC brand management lead
   
   
8. NYC & Co.'s goal = lure 50 million visitors a year by 2015
   
   
9. Branch offices around the world = Presence in 14 cities, with new offices set to open in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai in coming months
   
   
10. 311 = 24-hour customer-service
    
    
11. Cost of 311 Startup = $25 million USD
    
    
12. Number of 311 Calls = 49 million since 2003
    
    
13. Number of 311 Round-the-clock call takers = 370
    
    
14. 311 Call data-mining = 1 million less 911 traffic = Inspections for excessive noise up 94% = rodent exterminations up 36%
    
    
15. City Hall meeting rooms glass doors = better and faster communication
    
    
16. Presentations = Easy-to-follow charts and tables
    
    
17. Semiannual mayor's management report of yesteryears = >1,000 pages in 3 printed volumes
    
    
18. Semiannual mayor's management report under Bloomberg's reign = 186 pages, available online, includes many more features than before, including neighborhood data + five-year trends that allow New Yorkers to compare past and present
    
    
19. City Plans + Budget = fully accessible on the city's Web site with specific agency's overhead costs (e.g. pensions + legal claims)
    
    
20. Katherine Olivier = ex-Bloomberg global radio and television operations = executive from the city's Office of Film, Theater + Broadcasting
    
    
21. Within a month of Katherine Olivier's arrival, her 22 employees had new Dell (DELL) flat-screens, and production companies were able to file for permits online
    
    
22. 15% tax credit to film + tv produtions that complete at least 75% of their stage work in the city = generated $2.4 billion in new business = 10,000 new jobs since 2005
    
    
23. Dedicated team of 33 police offers to ease shots in the city = B2B = microcosm of what Bloomberg wanted to do for the entire city
    
    
24. Efficiency in city's film office = maps + diagrams + suggestions of where to shoot during one-on-one meetings with folks in the office
    

Read the full article:
Business Week / 2007-06-14T11:51-4:00 / Bloomberg: The CEO Mayor / How New York's Mike Bloomberg is creating a new model for public service that places pragmatism before politics