Iuliana Cosmina

Following the latest article on the subject of antitrust warfare, I remembered yesterday’s argument with one of my co-workers.

This coleague of mine is a big open-source adept, anti-capitalist and of course, Microsoft hater. The whole argument started from the fact that I included in one of my web-project, a line in the footer which said “Optimized for Internet Explorer 7+” because I didn’t bother to make the web-site look fancy on Firefox, all the while it was looking perfect on Internet Explorer (and people say FF is “compliant”… heh). He was bothered by the fact that I was endorsing the use of a proprietary, closed-source browser, and believed I shouldn’t do that. I retorted that I’m not the only one doing it, and that there are even more “evil” ways to endorse something, like for example, denying access to a website if you have a certain browser (for the record, try going here, using Internet Explorer). His argument was along the lines of “why support the big guy that already has the majority of the market share?”. I can agree with that, to some extent. Then again, let’s say I support Firefox, and somehow, it gets to be number one. Should I stop supporting Firefox and go back to supporting Internet Explorer? Not doing it would mean hypocrisy.

This is the eternal problem. Every service provider, when he’s small and puny, values the client and is very friendly. That’s the rule of thumb for creating the clientelle and grow. Growth means profit. Profit is good. That’s how Google got where it is now. But with great power comes great responsibility, right? Google is now at such a level that it can simply dismiss client complaints (me and alot other GMail users waited 8 months in order to be able to open attachments in some particular e-mail messages) and thinks that it can make all the rules for us to follow. It’s sliding to the dark side.

My coleague doesn’t want to use Microsoft products, because Microsoft is evil. Good for him! Now that he realises Google is becoming an evil empire too, his feelings are likewise. So I ask him: “You don’t use Microsoft products… Are you going to stop using Google services too?” After a slight hesitation, he answered “Yes!”

I disagree with this kind of behavior. Then again, I am a capitalist. I care about my own share, and don’t mind other players as long as they don’t affect my share. In other words, I don’t mind using MS Windows Server or Google Docs, as long as they help my purpose. His punchline was “Ok, give the ones with lots of money even more money! That’s how you capitalists work!” Yes, I totally agree! That’s how capitalism works! That’s how the world works! (and that’s why dudes like this still haven’t found their way to moneyland). And as long as it helps me achieve my goals, I don’t mind using anyone’s services… even if I’m a hater.

Tags: Google, Microsoft

There’s new hype around. Google and Microsoft are taking it on.

There was a time, before Google became a big boy, when Microsoft was seen as the big bad wolf. Microsoft was the evil empire who threatened to kill or conquer ever other small competitor, just like it did with Netscape. In the early 2000’s, a new savior came. It was named… Google. It provided free quality services and it was customer-oriented. It was a godsend, but in time, it grew. The more it grew, the greedier it became. By 2005, Google was already starting to be frowned upon by some of its former followers. By providing the quality services it does (Google search, GMail, Picasa, Docs), it became an important player and in some way, it was doing the same thing Microsoft was doing back in the ‘90s.

Then, inthe late 2000’s, Google went enterprise, and the shit hit the fan. The rules changed. The players changed. Everything changed. That’s when Google started to be seen as ‘hostile’ by competitors, but most importantly, Microsoft. But Microsoft has experience in this league. Google does not. That’s why Microsoft has the edge here. In the enterprise league, the weapon of choice is not the customer, but the law-court. Google is still considering itself the “good old samaritan”, or at least, that’s what it wants us to believe, which is wrong. If it wants to survive the “enterprise league”, google has to change attitude and get dirty. Yes, like it’s written all over, Google must become the new Microsoft. You can’t get big if you’re not getting dirty. This is a rule of thumb.

Seeking $335,000 in unpaid advertising bills, Google Inc. filed suit against a small Internet site in Ohio in October. The complaint was so routine it was just two sentences long.

Google never expected the response it got. Last month, the small Internet site countered with a 24-page antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the search-engine giant of a litany of monopolistic abuses.

But what really caught Google’s attention was the Internet site’s legal counsel: It was (Cadwalader’s) Charles “Rick” Rule, long the chief outside counsel on competition issues for Google archrival Microsoft Corp.

 

This is where Microsoft’s experience comes in hand. Microsoft learned from its former law-suits and realised that an effective way of fighting is through “the enterprise client”. Is it working? Yes. Is google going to be able to adapt to this climate? It is, but it will have to drop the “virgin Mary” look and act as the big evil corporation it is.

Tags: Google, Microsoft

Tango in 3 has always been a tricky situation.

Take Apple, Google and Microsoft, for instance. They’re all rivals with eachother in some markets. But lately, the stances have changed somewhat.

In the not-so-distant past, Apple competed with Microsoft on the smartphone OS market. Google was absent here, so Apple used to team with Google to use its search engine as the default on their iPhones. iPhone vs Windows Mobile however is not something threatening for Apple nowadays, but something else is: Nexus One. This caused a very unexpected turn of events. Apple sees now a real threat in Google, so it is thinking that “if Google and Microsoft are enemies…” (and they are, on several markets), “… then the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

However, Apple should also take the “customer” factor into account. The number of Google search users overwhelms Microsoft Bing’s users by far. And usually this is not caused by the fact that Google Search is better than Bing, but because they have this doctrine written into their subconcious that “Microsoft is evil, and Google is not.” All these Google users might find as unnerving a sudden change from their favorite search engine to one that they’re actually despising. This could actually make matters worse for Apple, causing a mass move from the iPhone to the Nexus One.

Do you own an iPhone? How would you perceive a change from Google Search to Bing on it?

Tags: Google, Microsoft