Two-party systems much better than one

  Quick observation on the story that Tweetdeck is selling to Twitter for $50 million.
  A short while ago we would have written off Tweetdeck as being worth almost nothing. What changed? A second bidder appeared, Bill Gross. Now the value of Tweetdeck soars through the roof.
  A message to tech investors -- it would be a good idea for all of us, maybe not for Twitter and its shareholders, if there was a strong second or third network. Even better, an open decentralized network anyone can participate in, at any level. So we can try out radical ideas, like 150-character tweets. Or links that aren't in the body. Or open metadata. Etc etc.
  It's worth investing in the existence of strong competition for Twitter, independent of whether it itself is a money-maker.