| The thing is there that Gates might have his own reason to gatekeep the word platform. Obviously something does not become a platform when people write software for it and the value of that software exceeds the value of the company that creates the platform, because this would mean that the day when the value of that software is $1 less than the company then there is no platform but the next day when the value is $2 more there is one. A platform exists when the company that creates the product has provided the means for third party developers to write software that runs on the product. As to whether it is a successful or important platform that will be determined by the amount of revenue it generates and the amount of applications written for it and the amount of people that use it. If the software for a platform did not make very much money, comparatively to other endeavors, but there was a lot of it (think free software written for Linux) then the platform still might be important. If these amounts are going up and the company making the product is also doing good you have a growing platform. if it's going down you have a decreasing platform. If it is going down real quick, or the company that makes the product is declaring bankruptcy or announcing they will be shutting off the possibilities for development on the product - thus standing in the way of the platform - you have a dying platform or will have one shortly. Obviously aside from all this you will be able to find platforms that are well made and that you have confidence in their longevity and their company's support and platforms where you do not have much confidence. Platforms where you think it is worth investing your time to write software and reach customers, and platforms where you think that is going to fail by the end of next year. For some of the reasons you outlined above I believe aural platforms will underperform visual platforms, although this does not mean that one cannot make money from the platform or that they will not end up having their own niche. I wouldn't say I know more about what makes a platform than Bill Gates, but I have less reason than he would to try to define what is a real platform or not. |