Posted on 03/25/2014 6:41:49 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- I saw a promo the other day for Google (GOOG) Work. Sadly, I can't locate it or I would have inserted it here so you could see it for yourself.
However, it might be fitting that you can't see the promo. Because Google's assault on Microsoft (MSFT) continues to fly under the radar. For whatever reason, it's the most under covered story in tech ... in finance ... and for the sake of extraneous ellipses ... the world.
But it's real and it's happening. And Microsoft has no idea what to do in response. How could it possibly have a plan when it's up against a company with a core revenue stream so prolific it can afford to give everything its does beyond advertising away for free?
Google provides an entire suite of (very good) productivity applications -- that Microsoft makes people pay for -- for free or for, relatively speaking, a negligible fee.
It's curious that Apple (AAPL) hasn't been more aggressive in this area. It appeared as if it was prepared to join Google to wipe Microsoft out of the consumer and enterprise software business (just as it did the artist formerly known as RIM on smartphones).
That's where I thought Apple was headed last year when it made iWork free to iPhone and iPad buyers. I first floated the notion of Apple going after Microsoft's productivity software foothold in October 2012.
Clearly, Apple hasn't acted with nearly as much vigor (or rigor) as Google. And that's too bad. Because Pages, for instance, is every bit as good as MS Word or Google Docs for basic to mid-level tasks. With a few tweaks, the entire iWork portfolio could compete effectively, across the board, with anything out there.
Apple entering the game with a more serious effort would not only crush Microsoft's software business, it would further accelerate the PC industry's in-progress collapse.
But, ultimately, Google doesn't require an assist from Apple to crush Microsoft. And Microsoft certainly doesn't need Apple to collapse under the weight of its own visionless ineptitude. What's done is done. Even Microsoft's impressive-sounding new CEO can't undo the damage his predecessor inflicted on what was purportedly his pride and joy.
Talk about an abusive relationship.
Say what you will about the company, but Google's not playing around.
The little anecdotal things are starting to happen. Anecdote you know full well is taking place all over place as occurrences that are independent of one another.
Like my wife coming home from work at a charter school asking about Google Chromebooks because "the school's thinking about a more cost-effective solution" to the Macs they use. Or my daughter telling me about the Chromebook she worked on the other day, noting "we still have the MacBooks -- and I like them better -- but we do easy stuff on the Chromebooks and everybody gets their own."
And Google's stepped up promotion of what it can do for individuals, businesses and education institutions with its computing solutions.
I considered Google in this and broader respects early last year. And, even though I'm not a huge fan of their hardware or their hardware strategy ...
One of Google's few stumbling blocks? teaming with has-beens and never-will-bes such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to build hardware. But, for Google's sake, I hope it can execute better than Microsoft has.
... I absolutely have faith in Google's ability to extend an ecosystem that, with or without Apple, will render Microsoft as much of a "has been and never-will-be" as HP, the ultimate master of the dead cat bounce.
**For an alternate, more bullish take on Microsoft see Chris Ciaccia's Why Microsoft Really Is Different This Time.
I wouldn’t send Gates any flowers yet in anticipation of the death of MS. As long as Apple hardware costs twice as much and more than most MS based hardware, a majority of consumers won’t give them a second look.
And Google is so intrusive and tries to constantly require registration to use any app at all, it makes me consider an MS based tablet and phone just to get away from Android and Google intrusiveness.
I don’t want my stuff in the cloud either. I also don’t want google knowing and keeping all my stuff.
But this is one area where I don’t seem to be able to convince my kids. They are all very conservative in everything else, but they have no problem with google or the cloud.
I think this is true in general for today. The younger generation has no problem with google in any way.
I bought a new Acer Inspire with windows 7. Love it. Anyone thinking of new, check this laptop out! It has unbelievable specs. It got awesome reviews. I paid $699 online @ Walmart, free shipping.
A *good* PC laptop is about $100 cheaper than the comparable MacBook Pro or Air, for anyone shopping around these days.
If you already own an iPhone or iPad in that situation, the choice is simple.
If you have an Android phone and a PC, then the angels in heaven weep for you.
Let me get this straight: the author notes anecdotal evidence from his wife and daughter, and that is the standard by which he claims MS will be crushed?
Really?
Microsoft signed up INSTANTLY for any kind of spying on America that was pushed across the table their way.
I hope companies stand atop Microsoft’s tender corporate throat and jump up and down, and gradually stamp their windpipe into utter oblivion.
I really want Bill to watch on helplessly, and see his entire empire burn to the ground.
The Cloud is simply a place that PUBLICLY holds your files. They are on the internet for any one that has the knowledge to see. Google has the knowledge and has never shown any desire to do anything but mine for your data to sell to anyone at the right price.
Let’s not forget that Obama is in the process of GIVING the control of the internet to the only organization less effective and trustworthy the Federal Government. The UN.
People have prophesied the demise of Microsoft for so long, yet it’s still going strong. They started to incorporate Skype in their Outlook, etc., which give them longer life.
NSA finds this development double plus good!
Funny I have installed Firefox add-ons just to block Google in it’s never ending quest to spy on me. Screw Google and everything it promotes.
Not gonna happen. Engineering tooling, for better or worse, is heavily invested in Windows. And I imagine Win9 will make the current Win8 pain go away. So it will continue Win7 -> Win9 with Google doing the cool app-let stuff.
Only your opinion. There are many PC laptops and desktops available for $500 and less, machines that have the power of top-of-the-line machines only a few years back. Apple products run two and more times that for comparable hardware.
And the same price disparities exist between Apple and other cellphones, and the same gap is forming between Ipads and other tablets.
Large numbers of consumers will not spend two and more times the cost of Microsoft O/S products just to own an overhyped and overpriced Apple product. A lot of the appeal of Apple is about as rational as the appeal of overpriced designer clothing and sneakers. I wouldn't wait around for Microsoft to go bankrupt in the foreseeable future.
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