Marc Hedlund eloquently analyzes Yahoo! 360 through “The Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat”, and I agree with his key points: walled systems stifle innovation and offer an inferior user experience for power users—but may offer a superior user experience for regular users.

That said, in the long run regular users can become power users. Many people (like my mother ) started out within the AOL walled garden, but have since graduated to more open and sophisticated platforms—e.g., from an @aol.com address to my mother’s personalized @DanceTimePublications.com address. An effective service has to allow people room to grow.

Via Clay Shirky