Open vs. Closed

The debate about "open vs. closed" is not a new one but has certainly been fueled recently by Apple when they announced that they would not allow Adobe Flash applications on their iPad.

Possibly prompted by all this, gigaom.com launched a discussion on that topic.  It focuses around technology, mainly.

I also read that the World Bank announced that it has opened up (some of) their databases for the general public (read here).  That is arguably both interesting and very useful.

Especially if you believe Tim O'Reilly who said during his keynote speech at the MySQL 2010 Conference & Expo that "The data is what's important, not the database." ... or, in other words: "the content is more important than the tool."

I guess you need both, but the good news is that the debate extends to both technology AND content.

My view is that open and closed can and must coexist.  This is not a competition but rather a coopetition.

Why do I say this?  We use "open source" technology and information and provide "closed services" to our customers... because they want it so!