Everyone wants to be a platform these days. And they are popping up faster than I can keep track of them. Facebook became a platform, enabling application developers to develop on top of Facebook. Next came the iPhone. Salesforce.com offered Force.com as a platform. Twitter became a platform. A few weeks back PayPal became a platform. AmEx bought Revolution Money last week, based in part on the notion that Revolution Money would become a platform for application developers. Google Wave is a platform. This week, LinkedIn is a platform. To top it all off, today AlcaLu announced it wants to be a platform. I could go on; this is madness.
This trend is not the exclusive domain of established players. It seems two out of…