

Google and the Deadly Power of Data - dabent
http://gizmodo.com/5391966/google-and-the-deadly-power-of-data

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notlisted
I think the maps are only part of the deal here, and google is failing on the
most important aspect: actually planning a useful route. Have not used the new
app. but the current version of Google maps on my BB has a routing algorithm
which simply sucks eggs...

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to use the directions Google
provided on my BB, only to revert to my TomTom. The latter generally provides
better directions and has blazingly fast recalcs when I veer off the
designated route.

(More recently I've discovered Goviko, free-ish, which works better than my
TomTom because it will take live delays ahead into account when planning my
trip, but sucks the life out of my BB faster than a ... well you know.)

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andreyf
_This is just a timely example of Google's monstrous growth, and the
destruction it causes_

Ugh, how overly dramatized. Cars killed the horsewhip industry, too.

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sp332
And markets for horses, horse food, horse-drawn carriages, large barns, and
stable boys too. Just because it's a good thing doesn't mean it's not dramatic
or even traumatic.

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brown9-2
[http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/mobile/stories/...](http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/mobile/stories/2009/10/26/daily38.html)

 _Garmin competitor TomTom NV, a Dutch company, on Wednesday reported a 15
percent drop in revenue and a 48 percent plunge in earnings for the third
quarter compared to the same quarter of 2008. However, earnings rose 42
percent compared to the second quarter._

Let's not ignore the possibility that todays drop in Tomtom's stock price (and
by extension, Garmin's) might had something to do with an earnings drop.

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imok20
The real key here is Google's efficiency and innovation. They're not simply
providing free data for the masses to consume, making nothing off of it and
paying to obtain it (as they must, to map the highways and byways of the US).

At it's heart, Google is an advertising company which creates products that
use data to place other companies in the eyes of those who use them.

TomTom and Garmin may offer an equivalent (or better) experience for a price,
but Google offers an excellent experience for free, the only cost being a
little inadvertent exposure to advertisements.

It wouldn't be inconceivable for another company to more efficiently display
data and create a better experience for consumers, but profit through
advertisements as Google does. Companies do this already. There simply wasn't
another model in the mapping industry that could compete. Yet.

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JCThoughtscream
I would argue that the fact that Google causes such drastic, irreversible
shifts in business practices is a good thing. Simply put, Google isn't raising
the bar - it's setting a higher baseline for consumer-level performance.
Forcing better service and performance across the information industry can
only be advantageous in the long run.

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jwhitlark
With apologies to Alfred North Whitehead, perhaps it should be: Civilization
advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform
without _paying for_ them.

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gaius
The money has to come from somewhere. In the case of Google search it is still
you, just by the circuitous route of via the companies that buy advertising,
who in turn you buy their products and services (the difference between this
and a conventional business is that Google works for said companies, not for
you, and that's not necessarily a good thing).

TANSTAAFL.

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jwhitlark
Very good point. Let's split the difference; Google has made something
significantly cheaper than it was before, (which is a good thing), and moved
it to an advertising model, (which is a mixed blessing).

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gaius
We only have enough data for your point 2 - certainly an Android handset costs
more than a typical GPS unit. Even if you get the handset "free" from the
telco it's really paid for through your contract.

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jwhitlark
Mmmm. I wasn't referring to the hardware. I meant that they had made it
cheaper to gather, process, store, and use location information. A guess, but
considering how good they are at some aspects of efficiency, a reasonable one.

And while a Android handset costs more than a GPS unit, by combining it with
other functions, you open up the potential for synergy, (Ugh. Why did the MBAs
have to go an ruin so many good words), between applications.

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washingtondc
Garmin and TomTom are hallowed brands?

This article was written ten years ago, about Microsoft. At that time, the
hallowed brands were the likes of Borland and Corel. Sure, Google is dominant
in search and advertising, but things have a way of changing in this industry.
It seems that the when a company comes to dominate a category, the category
begins to lose relevance.

Microsoft's dominance of desktop computing comes to mind. They controlled the
platform. Then, the applications and development tools. Eventually, no one
entered the desktop application market without dealing directly with Redmond.

Google's not going anywhere soon, but rest assured - the next Google is being
developed (or thought about) right now.

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goodkarma
WOW.

Google is fundamentally changing the business model of many companies. This is
a great example. To Google this is all data, and their goal is "to organize
the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

So these companies should ask themselves: what are they offering? A service,
or data?

That said, the stock market has overreacted. Nothing Google has done has
affected the earnings of any of these companies. Yet. You all have a decent
chance of pocketing a 20% gain if you buy now, because that fear got priced
into the stock today.

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wicknicks
A little surprised that the stock market should fall down so much. After all,
how many phones actually run on Android. If this was an iPhone app, that would
have meant a lot more "danger" for the GPS manufacturers.

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andreyf
I'm much more surprised that the stock holders saw this as news. Something
like this coming along should have been beyond obvious as soon as the iPhone
launched - with more memory, a faster processor, and a higher quality screen
than those crappy TomToms.

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JulianMorrison
iPhone's not so much of a problem for them - they probably don't mind
competing with a paid app.

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andreyf
I meant the general value their company - the value of the specialized GPS
widget hardware, the relationships with manufacturers, etc. all goes to 0 once
a general purpose device which can provide a better experience comes out.

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_pius
Insightful article.

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chrischen
Spiders kill pesky insects.

EDIT: Google is a new predator and the other insects have to adapt or be eaten
alive. In the end we get a better more resilient breed of insects. No more
lazy insects.

EDIT: It's good 'cause it forces companies to be more useful and less annoying
(if they were annoying).

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chrischen
Google is killing what we don't need: pests.

