I really like following the evolving product offerings from companies like Zoho and Box.net. Since they're small, SaaS companies that are solely in the business of collaboration, customers reward them directly for making products that fit the way people work with unstructured data. Rather than just try to replicate the features of Microsoft Office, the way that OpenOffice did, the Zohos and Box.nets of this market start with basic use cases, and think about what's important to add.
Box.net's iPhone support is another case in point. Given the popularity of the iPhone, Box.net might have created a check box feature of limited usefulness, beyond marketing. Or they might have put some real effort in a feature, only to design something that doesn't reflect how people want to work with their files and folders through a smartphone. Beginning with the API is a good first step. Not only do you give your partner a way of adding value, but it gives you time to figure out exactly what the right use case is. It's there, somewhere, but you might rush into development, only to get the killer feature of your killer app wrong.
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