…or at least that’s what it’s starting to look like.
In my second to last post I mentioned that I thought Google is the new Microsoft - just a little less evil.
It seems that some other industry insiders are inclined to agree with me.
From a Wired article reporting on Google’s poor privacy rating today, the privacy watchdog Privacy International states,
One of the points we are making is that Google is the new Microsoft. Five years ago, Microsoft was rightly perceived as the evil empire. But Microsoft has turned the ship around somewhat, and it doesn’t require much tweaking to embed privacy infrastructure into planning processes.
I suppose it can be inferred from these two issues, privacy and the anti-trust issues with locking you into using their software, that Google is falling down the slippery slope of just becoming a large evil corporation where bottom lines are more important than innovative products. I also see the commercialized push of owned assets as an issue that might eventually push Google into becoming the new Microsoft. I can see conversations starting with ‘how do we leverage our assets to earn higher ROI’… Don’t get me wrong, this is a necessary question in any business, but it is also a question where ‘evil’ answers can be found relatively easily.
We still do see Google creating great innovative products such as Google Gears, so all hope is not lost ;]
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Dave added these pithy words on Jun 12 07 at 10:51 pmI’ve been saying this for quite a while…Google’s the new Microsoft. In addition to what you talked about, I think it’s also true because of Google’s services being more relevant to contemporary demands. The big reason people began sneering at Microsoft and calling it the evil empire is the fact that its OS was THE only one most people used…or knew existed for that matter. But nowadays, I think what OS you happen to like using is not such an important factor in most things. Tech help broadcaster Leo Laporte has said he thinks that the browser is the new OS. I generally agree - or at least to the point that what you do in a browser is a pretty huge part of the whole computer-using experience. Certainly much more than it used to be. And I don’t need to explain how big of a role Google plays in this. I’d also point out that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 no longer dominates the gaming market either - although that’s Nintendo’s doing of course, not Google’s.
For these reasons, Google’s acquisition of Microsoft’s shadowy old throne has a lot to do with what Google actually offers us, not only the way they do business.
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