Marketplaces are either open or closed. For open marketplaces to thrive, they must be under the control ultimately of decentralized, federated authority. This means light governance based on interoperability standards, followed by independent, autonomous organizational units and individuals participating in open standard process frameworks.<p>That doesn’t mean closed marketplaces don’t work - they do, and well (to a point and certain scale) and are necessary, and there is an interplay between the two.<p>That said, open marketplaces and standards are for certain the superset of closed ones, this is where we get the interplay of public and private.<p>App stores as a model aren’t necessarily the problem, they are just a distribution model. The control and operation of app stores as they are currently controlled mainly as closed/private could be perceived as an obstacle. But, why not then pursue what an open App Store/marketplace might look like?<p>I believe the above is like physics, and some may label me a heretic for the strength of my belief in the above.<p>I truly believe that the sooner humanity advances to this understanding more broadly and we can more easily converse and cooperate in decentralized, federated, open marketplaces as an everyday pursuit, the better off all will be.<p>The Internet, and me being able to post this right now on the open forum of HN is proof of the value in fully understanding and being comfortable with the concepts.