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?
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?
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