Softwareplatformsaretheinvisibleenginesthathavecreated,touched,ortransformednearlyeverymajorindustryforthepastquartercentury.Theypowereverythingfrommobilephonesandautomobilenavigationsystemstosearchenginesandwebportals.Theyhavebeenthesourceofenormousvaluetoconsumersandhelpedsomeentrepreneursbuildgreatfortunes.Andtheyarelikelytodrivechangethatwilldwarfthebusinessandtechnologyrevolutionwehaveseentothispoint.InvisibleEnginesexaminesthebusinessdynamicsandstrategiesusedbyfirmsthatrecognizethetransformativepowerunleashedbythisnewrevolution--arevolutionthatwillchangebothnewandoldindustries.Theauthorsarguethatinordertounderstandthesuccessesofsoftwareplatforms,wemustfirstunderstandtheirroleasatechnologicalmeetinggroundwhereapplicationdevelopersandendusersconverge.Apple,Microsoft,andGoogle,forexample,chargedeveloperslittleornothingforusingtheirplatformsandmakemostoftheirmoneyfromendusers;SonyPlayStationandothergameconsoles,bycontrast,subsidizeusersandmakemoremoneyfromdevelopers,whopayroyaltiesforaccesstothecodetheyneedtowritegames.Moreapplicationsattractmoreusers,andmoreusersattractmoreapplications.Andmoreapplicationsandmoreusersleadtomoreprofits.InvisibleEnginesexploresthisstorythroughthelensofthecompaniesthathavemasteredthisplatform-balancingact.Itoffersdetailedstudiesofthepersonalcomputer,videogameconsole,personaldigitalassistant,smartmobilephone,anddigitalmediasoftwareplatformindustries,focusingonthebusinessdecisionsmadebyindustryplayerstodriveprofitsandstayastepaheadofthecompetition.ShorterdiscussionsofInternet-basedsoftwareplatformsprovideanimportantglimpseintoafutureinwhichthewaywebuy,pay,watch,listen,learn,andcommunicatewillchangeforever.AnelectronicversionofthisbookisavailableunderaCreativeCommonslicense.