Is Microsoft Done?

www.codinghorror.com

Yesterday Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer accused Google for being successful at ONLY one business while Microsoft “has reinvented itself many times over”. The “one” business he was referring to was of-course the ad-supported search engine that all of us are so familiar with. Ironically this is the business Microsoft desperately tried to be successful at but to no avail. Lets face it, their Live search engine is mediocre at best and cannot compare with Google.

Ballmer of-course failed to recognize that Google is more that just a search engine these days. They offer an array of web-based services (usually marked as Beta). C’Mon Steve, I’m sure you’ve heard of Google Maps, Google Video (YouTube), heck they are even making an attempt to take over the Desktop - something I’m sure you’re concerned about . And besides being free these web-services are open or exposed, so users can go in and customize them per their requirements. Take Google Maps for example - It comes with an extensive API allowing developers to seamlessly integrate satellite and regular maps into their applications.

Google’s business model is simple - good and easy to use products and services, you use only what you want and if you happen to click or view the ads on the page thats fine too. The bottom line is Microsoft can never become like Google. The culture at Google is hinged on openness and service oriented and nothing is shoved in front of your face for a price. The best analogy is that of a Chinese buffet, you chose only what you want and go back to your table and consume it. If you feel like you need more you can go back for seconds and either choose the same dishes or try something new - the only difference is you pay for the Chinese buffet.
Microsoft and Google are like apples and oranges - their cultures are totally opposite. First of all Microsoft the company was founded with the focus being on entrenchment. Every little piece of functionality has a license key and therefore the user has to pay a price to utilize it. Secondly the whole concept of web-services is foreign to Microsoft - they have tried to learn it but it does not come natural to them. Again that’s because their in-bred culture is that of closeness and fortification rather than opening up their products to the user community.

So for Microsoft to compete with Google is going to take a whole lot more than just trying to design and write software that resembles that of Google’s. There has to be a change in the mindset on how they conduct their business - try teaching an old dog new tricks. The task is daunting to say the least.

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