Slashdot Mirror
Rivalry Building Between Amazon and Google
Amazon and Google, both giants in the online business world, started out as separate entities with two very different agendas. As each has grown into an empire, the overlapping areas of business between the two companies has grown as well. But with both companies moving strongly into the electronic device market, cloud services, and Amazon now building out its advertising network, they find themselves increasingly at odds, and 2013 may bring more direct battles."Amazon wants to be the one place where you buy everything. Google wants to be the one place where you find everything, of which buying things is a subset. So when you marry those facts I think you're going to see a natural collision," said VC partner Chi-hua Chien. Adds Reuters, "Not long after Bezos learned of Google's catalog plans, Amazon began scanning books and providing searchable digital excerpts. Its Kindle e-reader, launched a few years later, owes much of its inspiration to the catalog news, the executive said. Now, Amazon is pushing its online ad efforts, threatening to siphon revenue and users from Google's main search website."
Children are starving around the world NOW and you want to blather on about guns?
Speak for yourself. My business runs on Microsoft stuff. I couldn't give two shits about Facebook, Google, or Amazon.
The fact that your company runs what is seen as utility product, is the reason why Microsoft is considered irrelevant.
That makes no sense.
Mircrosoft are simply the OS/Office Monopoly company that is a tax on every machine, you simply pay it as a business and get on with your life. Now compare and contrast with movers and shakers Amazon; Apple; Google; Facebook [the pack of four. Microsoft used to be a company that ate competitors for breakfast...now they are everyone bitch. People here often make reference to Ballmer throwing chairs..the sad reality is there is little wrong with throwing a chair we all lose our temper, what is wrong is after he threw the chair he then said "Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I'm going to fucking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to fucking kill Google."...and then failed to deliver!
The others are near the ceiling of their markets.
Google has failed to make money with anything other than search ads. Microsoft probably has a long life ahead of it, like IBM, serving the needs of business. Apple has a price maintenance problem - their huge markups may not survive the flood of lower-priced devices. Facebook is in a bind; their user base has peaked, and shoving more ads at users didn't work out for Myspace.
I agree Apples pursuit of profit over marketshare has been seriously short sighted, yet there is nothing stopping them expanding their product range; entering new markets [social;money]; licensing their OS to third parties..Oh and AppleTV [whatever you think of that]. Google are already starting to make real money from their Store, sat at 710Million devices and growing at 1.5Million a day, and yes they will continue to expand their ads into the mobile space, but the two pieces of news that I find interesting is googles interest in becoming the new credit card, and it challenging Microsoft at its core offering an Office equivalent at $50 a year (a massive cost saving over Microsoft). Amazon is just well taking over shopping, but its tablets kick-started the 7" tablet revolution...and I suspect a Amazon [Google stripped] phone will do the same...did I mention the cloud. The only real question mark is over Facebook...and your right advertising is only part of the package. I hoped they would buy blackberry or something exciting, because they have so much potential. The reality is most of those rumours [and they are not comprehensive] are interchangeable simply because they are so much in each others space. [notice I don't mention IBM, or computing eyewear...or self driving cars for that matter.]
Look everyone it's one of those dinosaurs. Everyone take a photo before it dies.
Google Chromebook + Google services is what your most successful competitors are using. They are beating you hard in cost of IT because of it. I strongly suggest you hire some people in your business that are up to speed with modern business technology before you do something stupid like buy microsoft surfaces for your employees and waste yet more money on a dying business platform.
Chromebooks, Nexus 7, Nexus 4 and google business services is surprisingly effective setup for sales staff and office staff. Our programmers and engineers still need a Workstation class laptop and Windows or Linux OS. But everything else allowed us to get rid of 50% of the it staff. All we have to maintain is an in house group of 4 linux servers and the broadband into the building. Sales guy loses his laptop, we take a new one off the shelf and he is back up to speed on a new laptop in less than 30 minutes.
Honestly, this cloud crap works really well.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.