Simplicity is a competitive tool that sometimes allows new market platforms to displace old ones. Credit cards replaced paper checks, and it remains to be seen whether mobile payment systems will replace credit cards. If they do, it will be because it’s simpler to swipe your phone than your credit card, more secure, or simpler for the merchant to accept payment that way. Notice that when competition among marketplaces causes previously successful markets to fail, it is often the result of undermining the previous success in establishing a thick market.
