Clash of the Titans (Google vs Microsoft)

Since I have it in my blog description that I will talk about "IT" wars, I decided to broach that topic today in the midst of probably the biggest IT war news this year "Google Targets Microsoft's Turf" . Just a single blog posting by Google has sparked all the discussions on the war between Microsoft and Google. In less than a week from Google's announcement, Microsoft announces its Cloud enabled MS Office solution "Azure". If this ain't war, I don't know what is.

So here is my take on it. Google's Chrome OS targeting Net books and Cloud architecture is not likely to take off for another at least 3 yrs. Here is why:

1. The current wireless broadband networks out there are too slow to run a Operating System (3G provides up to 14.4 kbps). It will take at least 3 -4 yrs for LTE or WiMax to become ubiquitous. Without that wireless infrastructure, Net books that rely on wireless will not take off. Yes, you can use Net books in your home with your home LAN but why do you need a small portable laptop device just for home.

2. Microsoft's OS market share is 87.79% (as of May 2009) and 94% for its Office Suite (Google docs has 0.04%). Capturing that market is not going to be an easy task. The only other option is to create a new market for net books and start from scratch. This is assuming that every household in America will have a laptop/ Desktop (with MS or Apple OS) and a Net book for online activities. I am not sure if that is very realistic either.

3. Google's history so far with OS's doesn't look sunny either. Android is losing the battle to iPhones in the mobile industry. Given Android will pick up once it finds a cooler phone, I am not sure if it can overtake iPhone's penetration into the market.

So who knows, what's in the sleeve for Google but at this point it looks like Google is taking major risks to define the future technology arena. Then again, Google never fails to surpass expectations.




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