This isn't about pushing MS out of the box. It's about getting into the application distribution business and extending the advertising business. Of all the places where MS has totally screwed up over the past few years, two stand out:
- Microsoft missed the boat on the iTunes model for applications. Much of this has to do with MS reliance on their retail partner channel - which is about as obsolete as the corner record store.
- MSN and MSN advertising have performed abysmally compared to Google. Mobile is a new and huge market - and Google wants in on the ground floor, a ground floor that would be fully occupied had MS done something better than Windows CE.
There's even one more market to create: Ebooks, which to date Google has not entered but seems poised to do so. Netbooks make great ebook readers, as evidenced by the picture here.
So far Android has been a resounding success (18+ devices by December). Companies wishing to give away netbooks using the cell phone model are facing real problems with Windows - they get little revenue from software sales to users and have massive support headaches due to Windows XP's security issues. The combination of a free operating system, an Andorid Market like model and low support costs is a combination that distributors will not be able to ignore.
Notes:
- Here's Google's official post on the new Chrome Operating System.
- If you want some Google Chrome screenshots, your wish is my command.
- Yes, I think Android is going to eat the iPhone's lunch this holiday season. Too many devices (LG, Samsung, HTC and Motorola, are you kidding me?) and carriers for it to fail.
- So far as game support goes, if you are buying a netbook to play games, it's like buying a Y2K era 400 Mhz PIII machine. Gaming is really a non starter in this market so far.
Everybody thinks that Google's competiting on the OS front with Microsoft. But I think they are taking on Apple.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a seamless, brain-dead easy user experience for your various devices and media today, you pay the premium for Apple. Google has done everything they can to make the PC compete in this area through their webapps, a whole web browser, and a mobile device OS. But now, they are going to make the PC run an OS which can compete with Apple's, without the Steve Jobs surcharge.
Of course, everything else Mike said is right too, but I'm more interested in OS stack, as this is the fundamental, fractured technology that has been holding back the development of IT more than probably anything else.
Everybody thinks that Google's competing on the OS front with Microsoft, because they are the dominant player. But I think they are actually taking on Apple.
ReplyDeleteThink about it---if you want a seamless, brain-dead easy user experience for integrating your various devices and media today, you pay the premium for Apple. Google has done everything they can within the boundaries of the Windows API to make the PC compete against Apple, with their webapps, their browser, and even a mobile device OS. But now, they are going to make the PC run an OS which can compete with Apple on the integration front, without the Steve Jobs surcharge.
Of course, everything else Mike said is probably right too, but I'm more interested in the OS stack. The fractured operating system environment has been the most fundamental technical impediment to the development of IT than almost anything else.