

Google's Microsoft Complex - razorburn
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/13/googles_microsoft_complex/

======
mdasen
From my vantage point, Google has been nicer. I can switch search providers
with no hassle if someone offers a technologically superior product.
Microsoft, through everyone developing for the Windows API, made it very
difficult for people to change OS - less so now that the internet has arguably
become the largest platform. Still, I can see how Google exerts a bit of a
hold because of AdWords. I know at my work, we never think about non-AdWords
networks. If you're going to monetize search, you need advertisers. In order
to get advertisers, you need users. You can go the whole, loose money now and
then make it up later technique, but that's hard unless you've got some nice
VCs.

Maybe the issue is who their customers are. With Microsoft, it's definitely
the people using Windows and such. With Google, one could argue that their
customers aren't people using Google, but the advertisers who pay for it - and
Google does have a little lock over them as they have the search traffic.
Still, I think Google has been more open and tried harder to succeed on its
merits than Microsoft has.

~~~
Tamerlin
"tried harder to succeed on its merits than Microsoft has."

The flaw in that argument is that it presumes that Microsoft's success was
based on Microsoft's success.

You're addressing what MS has done to maintain their dominant market position,
not how they got there -- though in the beginning, MS got its start through
smart business rather than technology or innovation.

