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Book description:
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Software platforms are the invisible engines that have created, touched, or transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century. And they are likely to drive change that will dwarf the business and technology revolution we have seen to this point. Invisible Engines examines the business dynamics and strategies used by firms that recognize the transformative power unleashed by this new revolution-a revolution that will change both new and old industries.
In order to understand the successes of software platforms, we must first understand their role as a technological meeting ground where application developers and end users converge. Apple, Microsoft, and Google, for example, charge developers little or nothing for using their platforms and make most of their money from end users; Sony PlayStation and other game consoles, by contrast, subsidize users and make more money from developers, who pay royalties for access to the code they need to write games. More applications attract more users, and more users attract more applications. And more applications and more users lead to more profits.
Invisible Engines explores this story through the lens of the companies that have mastered this platform-balancing act. It offers detailed studies of the personal computer, video game console, personal digital assistant, smart mobile phone, and digital media software platform industries, focusing on the business decisions made by industry players to drive profits and stay a step ahead of the competition. Shorter discussions of Internet-based software platforms provide an important glimpse into a future in which the way we buy, pay, watch, listen, learn, and communicate will change forever.
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Winner of the Business, Management & Accounting category in the 2006 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.
"It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the economic forces that drive high-tech industries."
-Hal Varian, Haas School of Business and Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
"In their absorbing and comprehensive account of the evolution and economics of platform technologies, Evans, Hagiu, and Schmalensee essentially map out the still-evolving history of the third industrial revolution."
-Craig Mundie, Chief Technical Officer, Microsoft
"Any executive looking to turn his company's product into an engine of growth will want to consult Invisible Engines."
- Om Malik, Wall Street Journal
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