The Case Against Data Lock-in (queue.acm.org)

More than a few startup ideas here. Certainly a big problem, but also a sticky one.

Hear ye open source and new technology people...

This is fundamentally the war we should be fighting. The problem is not that people are running Windows or using other proprietary software/services, but that their data is stuck in formats that are inextricably linked to them.

Thus, if you want peoples to be able to move to your new and innovative platform, work for open formats.