“RSS is like a quiet reading room in the library and Twitter is like reading a newspaper at a tailgate party.” – virtual pants

“…then the business managers at the new organizations are going to have a lot of explaining to do. Why were they sending so much traffic to Twitter all these years? Why were they promoting it so much? Didn’t ever occur to them that this was a competitor of theirs?” – Dave Winer [mp3]

“A lot of Twitter’s success is attributable to a diverse ecosystem of more than 750,000 registered apps. We will continue to support this innovation. We are excited to be working with our developer community to create a consistent and innovative experience for the many millions of users who have come to depend on Twitter every day.” – Ryan Sarver

I do know that if Twitter pushed consistency from day one – it would have never reached 750,000 registered apps. And it would have never attracted the developer ecosystem it attracted.

I would have found it far more compelling if they embraced diversity, utility, and the developer ecosystem. Instead, they’re fighting to shake off the barnacles.