Jul092009

Beware of shiny objects

Published by dave at 7:58 AM under computers | Internet | Microsoft Operating Systems | Opinion | privacy | technology

You're living in a cave if you haven't at least heard about G's intention to "build" a new computer Operating System based on their highly promoted and little used "Chrome" web browser.  Based on the reaction in the blogosphere, there doesn't seem to be a lot of "wait and see" attitude from the people actually paying attention to this stuff.   The Google fanboys and girls have soiled themselves in naivete` while the nay sayers are raising privacy concerns and question the motivation of such a plan.  Drudge went so far as to headline it as a "death blow" to Redmond, WA based Microsoft.   God knows Drudge has never been over the top.

I'm open minded enough to wait and see what ultimately comes out of Mountainview, but I for one am not holding my breath that this is going to be a "game changer" on a large scale.  Google conveniently omitted any real detail in the press release so one can only guess the new OS, in reality will be a shell or GUI running on top of Linux or other Open Source OS.  Not even the whiz kids can build a viable operating system from scratch and take it to market in the time frame announced.  If I am right, it won't be a true stand alone "Operating System", but rather akin to Windows 3.0 and 3.1 in that it will be a "Chrome" based GUI running on top of Linux, and we all know how painful that was.

Here is what I want to know:  Is Google really trying to build disruptive technology, or just trying to be disruptive?  Is this just a ploy to deflect the watchful eyes of Wall Street away from the sinking earnings reports and other failures?   Memo to Eric (Schmidt, CEO of Google), not EVERYONE has a stick up their ass for Bill Gates and Microsoft like you do.  Don't presume that the typical PC user sees Microsoft the same way you do.  Many of us are starting to see you as the new predatory and evil empire.

What's your take?



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Jun142009

Have you "Binged"?

Published by dave at 7:55 AM under computers | Opinion | Daily Tips | Internet

As a former Googler, I admit that I read and watched the announcements regarding the launch of Microsoft's latest search engine with somewhat of a yawn.  I mean let's be honest, Microsoft's track record in search hasn't exactly been stellar.  Redmond just can't seem to even make a dent in the search marketplace, so much so that Ballmer and company were willing to spend (at one point) upwards of $40 Billion to acquire Yahoo, mostly for it's search business. 

Enter Bing.  I'll admit, my expectations were pretty low.  As such it wouldn't be difficult to exceed them, but I think Microsoft actually HAS something this time.  The interface is slick, fast, and modern.   I dare say it kind of makes that plain Google landing page look sadly pathetic (Google's homepage was designed for the days when 56k dial-up was by and large the way most people accessed the Internet).  Usability on Bing for tasks such as searching for travel deals etc really illustrate how G has seemingly become content to rest on it's laurels while pursuing things that generate no revenue and leave people asking "what's the point" (did the world REALLY need another Internet Browser?).

I like Bing and apparently a lot of other people do as well.  It's not perfect but it's a great start.  Bing certainly has a long way to go to even pretend to challenge Google in the search advertising business, but Bing has not gone unnoticed at the Borg in spite of what CEO Eric Schmidt would like the world to believe.  Well placed insiders are saying Bing has apparently gotten the attention of Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin who is reportedly rattled enough by the new "decision engine" to personally head up and assign a team of top engineers to work on "urgent upgrades" to the Google search service.

In the end, I don't think anyone realistically expects Redmond to beat Google at their own game (at least not anytime soon) but I congratulate Microsoft for getting back to innovating, and I congratulate Google for taking the challenge seriously.  This is healthy competition and it can only make Internet search a better experience for all of us.



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