check this one out.

http://apps.fac...ok.com/bdsinger

The apps were a mechanism for Facebook to build out a quasi-operating system 100x faster than they could independently. The virality of the apps were invaluable in the race to create an installed base and tap into the network effects of the industry. Hopefully, FB won’t run roughshod over the dev community… encouraging them to create these apps, then rewriting the code at a later date… or heck, just copying the code… oh wait, this company was founded on the premise of stealing IP.
http://news.cne...tml?tag=cd.blog

Your point is dead on – one could argue that a rational FB app developer should never invest too far ahead of the curve in proving a market… especially in a case where Facebook’s barrier is so low.

The question remains, would people have been better off if FB had released this feature natively from the getgo?

I should probably call you instead of responding on a TechCrunch board, but I think it’s more than just “a radio button and a notificaion.” The fact is, Facebook has hundreds or thousands of features they could be implementing. As you know, my app, BirthdayAlert, has been up for well over a year and has seen many competitors spring up. Combined, the birthday reminder apps have millions of monthly actives. Now that the value has been proven out for the birthday reminder service, it is easy for Facebook to prioritize this feature above the others. Even if the technology is easy, it is hard to believe they are not using the app community to prove value for features. If they believed this feature is valuable for their users independent of apps proving it out, why was it never implemented in the 5 years that Facebook has existed?

Jeff

We are always in touch with Facebook and Facebook had informed us of these developments. We were always more than birthdays – Mashable had recently written “SocialCalendar does a lot more than I expected from a social networking application.”

While it will impact us, it only means that we have to constantly move forward and provide substantially more value. At SocialCalendar, birthdays are a significant part but our users use it for many other social occasions such as anniversaries, Valentine’s day, birthdays of friends not on Facebook, trips etc. We also have public holidays for most countries.

The biggest advantage SocialCalendar brings to the table is the ability for a user to coordinate a get-together, movie, night-out etc. with friends and family because we enable collaboration around an occasion. For many families, it has replaced the kitchen calendar – they can put things on each other’s social calendar.

SocialCalendar has also built a sophisticated wish list functionality using Amazon and soon you will see some very cool functionality developed in partnership with some top players in this space. Constantly evolving, fortunately or unfortunately, is the only way to succeed as a startup in Silicon Valley.

Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com