As perhaps an aside, I think the first-mover advantage is quite debatable.
I'm pretty sure the benefits of Unix have not primarily accrued to the firm that generated the original creative act. Neither did the benefits primarily accrue to the firm that generated the original creation of the Windowed GUI. Nor the web browser, web server, search engine, blog platform, flash-based personal media player, social network, smart phone, tablet, etc.
I believe a strong argument can even be made that followers-on have an advantage in seeing the landscape laid out before them and planning for the future, while the first-mover is mired in legacy concerns.
Granted, much of this rests upon the definition of a discrete invention and thus the original creation of it. But it seems things are quite a bit muddier than Abrash claims.
Edit: Indeed, his citing of any Zynga games as examples of first-mover advantage seriously undercuts his argument.
Look at Apple as an example. In their early phase they were often a first mover. Today they've moved into a different phase where they tend to be a strongly innovative later mover. The iPod wasn't the first mp3 player, but it also wasn't just a clone or even a slightly evolved clone of earlier designs. The same applies to the iPhone, the iPad, Macbooks, iTunes, etc.
I don't think Id got most of the money, or any sustainable advantage from making the first networked first person shooters, but that's not the point. First mover gets to change the world. That was true for Id, Xerox, AT&T, etc.
I'm pretty sure the benefits of Unix have not primarily accrued to the firm that generated the original creative act. Neither did the benefits primarily accrue to the firm that generated the original creation of the Windowed GUI. Nor the web browser, web server, search engine, blog platform, flash-based personal media player, social network, smart phone, tablet, etc.
I believe a strong argument can even be made that followers-on have an advantage in seeing the landscape laid out before them and planning for the future, while the first-mover is mired in legacy concerns.
Granted, much of this rests upon the definition of a discrete invention and thus the original creation of it. But it seems things are quite a bit muddier than Abrash claims.
Edit: Indeed, his citing of any Zynga games as examples of first-mover advantage seriously undercuts his argument.