The current spat between Microsoft and Google over the Windows Phone YouTube app illustrates the value, and hindrance, of the internet’s walled gardens.
Google’s locking Microsoft Phone users out of YouTube shows the strength of these online empires and when coupled with control of the mobile phone platforms, as Google has with Android, it makes it hard for outsiders to compete.
In one respect, this is corporate karma coming back to bite Microsoft who ruthessly exploited their market position with Windows, MS-DOS and Office through the 1990s and early 2000s.
That doesn’t change the problems facing Microsoft Windows Phone users who want the same access to internet services enjoyed by Android and iPhone owners.
Being locked out of a service because of the product you choose to use is in many ways the antithesis of the internet and challenges the underpinnings of the online economy.
All internet and mobile phone users need to watch how this spat between Microsoft and Google develops, captive markets aren’t good for anyone.