
Prediction: Google and Apple go to War. - theforay
http://thenextweb.com/2009/07/08/prediction-google-apple-war/
======
zimbabwe
This is my second-favorite rumor ever, because it keeps coming up (Android vs
iPhone, Gmail vs MobileMe, AppleSecretSearch vs Google Search) and because the
origin of it is: There are two supercool companies, and people would rather
see supercool things duke it out violently than have a quiet amicability
wherein the CEO of Google is on the Apple board. Fact is, Google and Apple
excel at two different things. Google can't release any product at Apple's
price point because they can't achieve such an anal level of quality, Marissa
Mayer's 30 shades of blue be damned. Apple can't compete directly with Google
because they insist on making pricey products that cost money, and because
making a free suite of things completely contradicts their philosophy.

My _favorite_ rumor is the Apple vs Nintendo rumor, because first off it makes
more sense (iPod touch vs DS), and second off because both companies make
excellent products but design them from different points of view, Nintendo
focusing on innovative gaming and Apple focusing on its outright
perfectionism. The one that _would_ be my favorite rumor but is absolutely
true is Google vs Facebook, and that's the one that interests me most if
Google's making its own OS. Facebook acquired Parakey a few years ago, and
since then rumors of it launching a webOS have been scattered about.
Interesting to see how they take advantage of this announcement.

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roc
No more than Toyota and BMW are at war.

Regardless of how good Google's products get, their core business doesn't
involve building the products that Apple is building. And even if beige box
PCs came with an operating system and applications that better compared to a
Mac, they'll still lack that integrated quality-assured ecosystem joining them
together.

E.g. For the average user, a web-app-focused OS is going to have even _more_
confusing UI inconsistencies than Windows.

~~~
jacquesm
For a war to exist you have to have a frontier.

The 'google' territory centers around eyeballs, ads and possibly at some point
in the future paid services (though it looks like google wants to avoid that).

The 'apple' territory is a unified media presentation vision centered around
slick hardware and a common user interface design.

The 'microsoft' territory is mostly (xbox) centered around licensing software.

All three companies have a completely different take on how to make money of
their IT business. Sure there are overlaps, and for sure there will be users
crossing over from the one service to the other.

But if this were a 'real' war google would be selling hardware (or worse,
giving it away), Apple would be getting in to the search business and
microsoft would be going for the eyeballs at the expense of their licensing
strategy.

Some of this is happening, but at least for the foreseeable time things are
relatively stable and market shares will slowly fluctuate, no 'mass
casualties' are expected.

For an idea of what happens when there is a war check out what happened to
digital research, netscape and altavista. Skirmishes, yes, sure. War ?
Definitely not.

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otherland
The site has a ad banner with sound, very intrusive, 'congratulations, you
won!', it may embarrass you if you open at work.

~~~
ntoshev
And the article is not worth enduring the torture (hint: use the Readability
bookmarklet on such pages if you really want to read them).

thenextweb.com had been banned here before, and I think it should be again:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=637738>

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ben_straub
Google sells ads. Apple sells hardware.

~~~
mighty
They both make operating systems, browsers, and web apps.

~~~
stcredzero
I think they'll be more like Intel and Microsoft. They'll benefit each other.
Hopefully, they'll keep benefitting us.

------
jemmons
This is not an article. It's just some guy talking. There is not a _single
sentence_ in this post that would not be improved by asking the question
"Why?"

 _Today saw the announcement of ... something I’ve wanted for quite some time;
an ... OS with the web and Google’s services as its backbone._

Why do you want this? Is there something wrong with your current method of
accessing Google's apps? What is it? What do you expect this new OS to
improve?

 _The move by Google is sure to leave Apple and Microsoft shaking in their
boots_

Why?

 _I’m certain this is the beginning of the end for Ubuntu._

Why?

 _Since the increasing development and improvement of Google Apps, the
increased speed of Chrome, the release of Android and now, the Google OS. I’m
left torn._

Why? What do these technologies have to do with one another? Do they
interoperate? What do they offer you that you didn't have before?

 _My current commitment to Google Apps has left me ... entertaining ideas of
what it would be like to truly incorporate all my primary web services into an
operating system_

What _would_ that be like? What benefit would it offer? Why do you want this?

 _I’m left wondering what Apple can bring to the table between now and
Google’s OS release_

What should they bring? What does the new Google OS offer that you think Apple
should incorporate in OS X? Why would that improve it?

 _The point is this. As long as Google and web applications continue to
improve at the rate they are, [Apple is] going to have to start thinking far
more Google-like._

For love of all that's good, _why_?! What does it mean to think more google-
like? What is wrong with how Apple is thinking now? What improvements is
google making? How are those superior the improvements Apple's making (if,
indeed, they are not completely orthogonal).

 _this is the beginning of an era of Google dominance, the likes of which
we’ve never seen before_

Why?

 _The company is slowly but surely taking over every aspect of our lives ...
for some its scary, for me... I’m excited._

Why?

 _And for now at least, the one company I want to see step up to Google’s
surge in dominance is Apple_

W-H-Y?

 _and I predict they will, but its not going to be easy._

Predictably: _why_?

I propose a new rule. If you're considering posting something to HN, think how
a fifth grade teacher would mark it up. If there would be more red than black
on the page by the end, maybe give it a miss?

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fiaz
I really can't take such articles seriously anymore because they very
simplistically confuse companies with tribes and competition with war...

Microsoft, Google, and Apple have figured out ways to make money in different
ways. Whatever Google has to offer, it is going to help Apple and Microsoft
further delineate what they do best. I hardly see this as "going to war".

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edw519
Apple was never going to be anything other than a niche player in the personal
computer marketplace, and they knew it all along. Why else would they commit
so many resources to co-opting the personal music and cell phone markets?
Apple has already won the wars of its choosing.

~~~
omouse
You mean to say that Apple is first and foremost a hardware company.

~~~
bhousel
I think Apple is first and foremost an industrial design company.

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pmorici
The Google OS appears to be geared more toward business than the home user. I
mean email / Docs / Spreadsheets? That's a business combo. The Mac has Music /
Movies / Photos that's for home.

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pyman
Quote: "I'm certain this is the beginning of the end for Ubuntu and Linux"

It's funny how ex-marketing dudes, who now call themselves "social media
experts", write crap just for the sake of it.

