Microsoft's intentions must be judged by Microsoft's actions, not Microsoft's words. Their actions speak plainly enough: they are working to turn today's open-PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly.
Without net neutrality protections, the Internet would no longer be a free and open ecosystem for innovation.
I feel like it really marks a new era for Microsoft under Satya Nadella, Alex Kipman, Phil Spencer, and a number of other people who are really committed to the platform being a healthy ecosystem for everybody and not just an extracted business like you see on the Facebook or Google side.
A platform is essentially a business model that thrives because of the participation and value added from third parties with only incremental effort from the owner of the platform.
AR is going to play such an infinite role in our lives that we have to establish clear ground rules respecting everyone's rights. That means open platform and open ecosystems and protections that put user privacy first.
Even Apple, notorious for keeping a tight grip on its products, allows fierce competitors like Google, Amazon, Spotify, and Microsoft to offer their apps on its phones and tablets.
When you run a platform on scale, you have to make sure it's truly open. That way, not only do you do well, so do others.
If you need the approval of the platform vendor to ship an app, then it isn't a platform.
