IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is a name many businesses know very well. The former largest computer company on the planet left the hardware game a long time ago to concentrate on consulting services and business software. But, IBM's next nemesis won't be a company out of Redmond -- but a name on the tongues of millions these days -- Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

I was one of those people who got creative to get Gmail. I was working, at the time of the great launch, as the warm-and-fuzzy product development type in a company of unmitigated (and well-connected) geeks. But none of them had Gmail.

I baked an amazing (oh, it was really good) organic chocolate torte and got Gmail. I invited a geek or two. It was crazy, for a bit: you could pay hundreds for a Gmail account. Then, suddenly, the market was saturated and I never got that crocheted purse someone promised me in return for an invite. Ahh well.

Before long it seemed as if everyone had Gmail. But it turns out that even more of you have AIM Webmail, at least, more in the first year of the product's availability: so say my big bosses at today's AOL all-hands meeting. It's odd, really: it's clear that many products are more successful than Google's forays. More customers, more mainstream acceptance, more ad dollars. But everything Google touches is just cooler. I mean, no one's offering me even a mini-cupcake to get into AIM webmail.

I'd rather be profitable than cool anyday. But it seems investors? They prefer the cool.