The internet once started as an idea to share information with other people through computers over big distances. Initially, mainly universities in the US were the ones that were sharing information with each other. Next, we started to use email and instant messaging. Web 1.0 was still a pretty static web by that time. Untill we started to blog and we invented the Podcast. From that moment, everybody could contribute to the world wide web, what many people did. Nowadays, internet is playing a big role in our daily lives. We send mails, we blog, make pictures and movies that are shared online almost instantly. We tweet about where we are, what we are doing, who we are meeting or what music we are listening to. And we want to have all this information with us 24/7. That can be on a PC or a laptop at home. Or a tablet PC or notebook on the rood. And of course we have our smart phones to make sure we are always connected to the internet and we always have everything in our pocket.
Google is doing everything online. The company that once started as a search engine has grown to one of the biggest companies in the world in a relative short period. Nowadays, Google is everywhere and the search engine only seems to be a minimal part of their activities. That ain’t true. Google has promoted the search for information, or better, finding information, to a supreme level. and they are good at it. They make billions with their search engine, using that money to develop all kind of products and services that we can use ‘for free’.
Google connects everything to your personal Google Account. With this account, you get access to all services, as long as you use the services of Google. Mail, calendar, images and videos, documents, blogs, social networks. All by Google. And that ‘s it. Integration with other networks is more or less not possible with Google.
Apple
Apple has nearly always followed a premium pricing strategy for their products and services. That resulted in a premium priced corporate image. Minimal design, good combinations between hardware and software and fantastic integration between the various products and services through their own MobileMe. that is connected to a premium price tag however. Although you can have the same services for free on other places, Apple is asking a $99 per year for it. Services that are supported are mail, calendard, files, images, contacts, device tracking and online backups.
Microsoft
At this moment, the Worldwide Partner Conference 2010 is taking place in Washington where Microsoft has announced that they are all in the cloud. They even rebranded the term PC! Up till now, PC was a abbreviation for Personal Computer. However, Microsoft is now using the PC as a Personal Cloud.
Looking at Microsoft, I think the company has waited a long time, took a good look at Apple and Google as is now going full speed with their own products and servicecs, using the best practices of their competitors. On the one side, they have looked carefully to Apple by stating that they will improve the cooperation with for example their hardware suppliers. This results in better possibilities for, for example, a mobile OS for the hardware-software combination. On the other side, the company has the same products and services as Google. Search Engine Bing is growing and a large set of services such as mail, calendar, documents, photo’s, blogs others are offered for free through windows Live.
Online Music
Één van de gebieden waar geen van deze drie bedrijven tot nu een stempel op de industrie heeft kunnen drukken is muziek. Online muziek dan wel. Natuurlijk heeft Microsoft Zune en Apple heeft iTunes. Maar er is nog er nog niet één die een vergelijkbaar initiatief zoals Spotify heeft kunnen lanceren. Er wordt wel over gespeculeerd, maar vooralsnog is het er niet.
One of the areas where non of these three companies has won the battle yet is the area of music, online music. Of course, Microsoft has Zune and Apple has iTunes. However, there is still none of them that has a similar service as Spotify has. Rumors are on, but I haven’t seen it yet.
The Future
Where are we going? Of course, that is a wonderful question that cannot be answered by anybody. I do however think that Microsoft can become really big again. Of course, Apple is really Popular at this moment with its iPad and the iPhone 4. And Google is still offering everything for free. I believ that Microsoft has a correct mix of products and services, based on an all-in cloud strategy. Besides, Microsoft has a fantastic partner channel and much more experience in selling products and services than Google has (after all, Google is just selling advertisements). Looking at price, Microsoft has positioned itself below Apple, increasing the group of potential buyers.
This post was recently posted in Dutch on www.erpfood.nl by the same author as this website.
