Well, this is a story that can be twisted and interpreted any number of ways -- so we'll just pick a few, heh. This blog posting over at Hitwise is making the rounds today on the web and it's being picked apart by Google naysayers as well as having some logic injected by famous bloggers such as Om Malik.

On the surface, I can agree with most of this goobledy-gook -- this Google analysis, while surface-level (read: none of the competition is mentioned, if in fact an apples-to-apples comparison can be made), kind of reinforces a few things the Google brass said at its annual press day, which we live blogged here.

Here's what we heard Google say: "we'll respond and create a product based on what our customers want, and we'll figure out how to monetize it later". And: "we'd rather launch a product that's half-baked and improve it as we go then waiting until perfection is achieved" (both quotes paraphrased). I agree with both of these sentiments. First off, while Google's marketshare in some of the products it offers does not look to hot from this analysis, I highly doubt that the goal of Google's launch team is to immediately take share within 48 hours of release.

But, through giving the customers products they want (and, even in Beta, they work great), by tweaking the products as time goes by and by providing a streamlined and speedy interaction (as opposed to some web ad/bloatware by competitors -- hello, Yahoo! Mail), Google will slowly but surely grow its userbase for many of its products. Do they need a marketing lift so that the world knows about some of these products? You bet -- this is an area Google needs to expand beyond the company's trademark (and, let's be honest, oft-copied) viral marketing they have now.

This blog post over at Cnet discusses the possibility of a Google-branded computer. Although this story has floated around the web for years now, this could be the year that Google takes its assault full-frontal to their rivals in Redmond and introduce a Linux-powered PC, preloaded with Mozilla Firefox (and the Google Toolbar), Google Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Local . . . take breath, whew. But wait -- all those mentioned aren't software programs -- they're web services (except Google Earth).

So, what do you need to take Microsoft Windows out of the picture? Base all your offerings as a software service on the web instead of individually-installed software programs on a hard drive. With online word processing now in Google's camp, who knows what else they have in store to compete not only with Microsoft Windows, but Microsoft Office as well. The one thing that would be needed for a strategy like this is broadband internet (which has more than 50% penetration in this country now).

We live in interesting times, folks -- insofar as the race between Microsoft and the anti-Microsoft continues.

[image credit: suitcoatdays.weblogs.us]