July 17, 2008 10:42 AM PDT
Funding for Facebook applications trend is about to die multi-million dollar death
One utterly moronic trend that is deservedly near death are the venture funds specifically for Facebook applications. The company has the ability to turn on/off any features it wants and can replicate any external application that it sees as successful. Being totally dependent on that was risky from day one.
Open APIs or not, Facebook is not the internet. It's a site that wants to monetize it's users. Anyone who thought differently should certainly be singing a different tune.
From the Valleywag article:
They can't say they didn't have it coming. But widgetmakers are angry all the same about Facebook's decision to clone Slide's Top Friends application as a feature in its latest redesign. "It would be insane for a new developer" to begin creating new apps the platform now, one executive at a Facebook-applications developer tells us. The exec says the VCs widget startups pitch for funding know it, too, and are closing their wallets.
Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @dr138. 
