With eBay rumored to be
talking to Microsoft or Yahoo! about creating a partnership in order to face off the considerable threat of Google
and Apple
launching Microsoft software on its platform, it's almost enough to make you wonder if Bill Gates'
competition-stifling company might be losing its reputation as The Evil Empire.
After all, as I discussed
with my friendly neighborhood database guy in the coffee shop today: Google's whole schtick is don't be evil.
But how can they not be evil if they're positioned to take over the world? Google's in everything these days, from
operating systems to email to calendars.
They're a search company, they're a portal, they're an online superstore, they're the last word in clean and simple
software.
But someone has to be evil, right? Some company has to be the lumbering giant about whose feet
tiny, nimble startups hop and nibble, and against which the up-and-coming titans war. For a decade or more now, it's
been Microsoft. I don't know how I'd react to a world in which Microsoft was one of the good guys. How 'bout you?
If eBay partners with Microsoft, who will be the evil empire?
Posted Apr 25th 2006 7:34PM by Sarah Gilbert
Filed under: Deals, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY)
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