I’ve been interested in what constitutes a “platform” and how platforms spawn and nurture ecosystems for quite some time. We’ve been exploring these ideas in this blog over the last few months.
In this post I’d like to start identifying some of the key factors that anyone thinking about innovating or building a platform must consider. To do that, I’d like to start, as the title suggests, by reviewing the first platforms.
The first platforms were paths, rivers and other means of improving human interaction and communication. As interactions were improved and information flowed more easily, civilization, which is just a form of an ecosystem on a platform, developed. Roads, canals and other forms of improved transportation simply became a better platform, and allowed the Romans to create financial and trade mechanisms not equaled until the 19th century. Continue reading