One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter - Microsoft v Google
It’s interesting how two major tech business developments have been received by the tech cognoscenti. Putting to one side my technical illiteracy, Google’s very limited App Engine is generally received warmly, while Microsoft’s Live Mesh is bagged as overly complex and a weak attempt to bridge the gap between in-house and internet-based applications delivery. While some of the technical arguments may be justified, I suspect a lot of the difference in reaction is as much about brand sentiment as about product excellence.
If App Engine is a success, it will be proclaimed as another blow for freedom, while if Live Mesh is a success, there will be cries that the shackles of oppression have been reforged. Yes, the tech cognoscenti do use such language.
Google is still (on the whole) the fashionable upstart who’s driving a lot of new internet endeavours, while Microsoft, itself once fashionable, is now portrayed as a rapacious corporate gouging its customers with unnecessary desktop software upgrades and poor performance. However, away from the desktop, Microsoft has gone from strength to strength in its enterprise solutions, and has a huge following in customers, product partners and implementation partners. As Live Mesh evolves into a web platform, it could have an enthusiastic uptake, despite its knockers.
Nothwithstanding that, Microsoft has got to do some serious work on rebuilding positive sentiment towards itself, while Google has to avoid its own potential brand-corrosive path.
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April 25th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Microsoft’s announcement is just so “whatever” … like listening to your Grandad tell you he’s just bought a cool new toy and then telling you it’s a “hip CD player”.
The Yahoo! stuff is much MUCH more interesting and on the nail!