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Will Google Become Another Netscape?

Posted by Cliff on from the history-may-or-may-not-repeat-itself dept.

kaluta asks: "The Economist has a typically clear and concise story about bringing Google to the stockmarket. Basically, is it going to be the next eBay or Amazon, or will it 'simply be the next overhyped share sale to make its founders rich only to wither away miserably, either for lack of a sustainably profitable business model, or, like Netscape, because it finds itself in the path of that mighty wrecker, Microsoft?' Cool picture too."

1 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Being in MS's sights by Rathian · · Score: 2, Redundant

    Depending on how Google plays it, they could still do quite well.

    Netscape lost their position because MS not only integrated IE into the OS, but also because Netscape 3-4.x series was unmanageable spaghetti code, resulting in an inferior product. IE during that time made matters worse because it was improving in leaps and bounds. Sadly if only that last part were still true...

    If Google wants to keep the crown against the likes of MS, they are going to have to fight hard, fight well, and never rest on their laurels. They're also likely going to have to play some hardball with MS too - keep in mind MS has not only the OS and browser, but also content sites such as MSNBC and a number of others.

    Either way Google folks, best of luck to you!