[anigbrowl]

I don't want to trash any particular company. The thing about simple and obvious business models which satisfy a basic need is that they're easy to replicate. My view is that every so often one company hits on a mix of utility and accessibility that satisfies enough people's needs well enough that the firm becomes a giant of the industry...arguably, it becomes an industry unto itself, so well-known and well-liked that an entire ecosystem grows up around serving the needs of its users.

But the the frontier expands, and the very high integration which formerly proved such a huge advantage is now a source of inertia.

How many of us here have signed onto CompuServe or AOL lately? How many competitors did they leave dying in the dirt? They linger on, but as strange undead shadows of themselves. Apparently a few people are still willing to pay $199/year to sustain that pioneer feeling, but I doubt I'm missing anything: http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/menu/