The 800lb Gorilla
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Does your IT business belong to Microsoft? If you get this newsletter, it's possible and maybe even likely. Is Microsoft the most powerful IT company or not? Are they still extremely dominant? The article shows that it appears Windows has retaken the lead in server sales from Linux.
Not Unix, but Linux. The free OS. The OS that the geeks love, that's spawned a grass roots revolution, that was supposed to rule the desktop and data center eventually. Or maybe not.
I don't think Microsoft is the best company in the world, but I don't think they things they do are much different from what most other companies would do, or even how they act now. This is a pro-Microsoft site, but it's an interesting look at Google.
I think the article raises some interesting points and I'm a little worried about Google's actions as they grow and refuse to disclose much of how they work. It's almost like a secret society from my university days. They may do mostly good, but who's to know when they start doing evil if they're so closed?
I like Microsoft's transparency and I like the fact that so much about how the company is run is available for people to see. I like seeing so many Microsoft conferences and speeches by executives and project managers. Too much information is a problem and I think marketing and the spin doctors have too much influence still at Microsoft, but there's no denying they're a marketing company.
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Sure, they're the dominant IT company now that they've achieved their long-awaited monopoly status. But much of what comes out them is pure marketing hype. Any MS Partner can verify that, with their relentless pitches for selling techniques, increasing sales & market share, and telling the world how much better their products are than "the other guys". They have changed their business model from "look how clever this is" to "open your wallet". Sorry for the rant, but all the marketing in the world will not forgive them the fact that the Holy Trinity (Vista, Office 2007, and Sql 2005) have serious shortcomings as far as compatibility, user-friendliness and stability.
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I always thought that the only reason Microsoft releases so much stuff was because of the court cases, especially those in europe, where they were ordered to allow more inter-operability and more openness about how their products work.
Whatever the reason, it's been long overdue and Google should be paying close attention as, from the article linked to, it looks like they're going the same way as MS once did.
On the upside, Google's reluctance to open up did mean they refused to reveal data to the american courts when they asked for it, (though an actual american could provide a better description than that!).
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Google is flat out scary. They are the 800lb gorilla of the search engine. And you never know what they choose to withhold presenting. And they have a perfect alibi - our search spiders simply didn't find it. There is absolutely no transparency.
Look at the simple technology. Say you do an advanced search returning 100 links. How are you going to know that you are missing 5% or 10% or 20% of the really relevant links? As long as they return 100 links (and some times you are actually happier when they return 16 instead of 100), you are satisfied and "Google rocks". But did they really? You just don't know.
And their advertising click-throughs are purposefully designed to look like other links without the bling traditionally associated with internet pop-overs and side-by-side ads. Indeed, we rapidly train ourselves to avoid the bling but can be snookered by the info-mercial approach of Google's ad links.
They definitely have a political agenda - left of center. Searches on conservative topics or people routinely come up with a large percentage of negative links while more liberal topics or people come up with a much smaller percentage. What other search results are being manipulated?
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I have a different point of views. First both companies are US companies and both were found by young US computer guru. I had a chance to listen to Larry Page talking to a group of young high school students in F.I.R.S.T. (Robotic competition). He encouraged young men and women to work hard and following their dream. In his whole speech, I never felt he was arrogant. As for Bill Gates, he had numerious interviews, I never felt he was arrogant neither.
The young people who was arrogant probably were the ones working in Google and Microsoft. They thought they were better than anyone else.
I wish both companies will keep hiring US young computer graduates, devoting to educate young people in US and keeping US as a technology leader.
Do you want a 800lb US gorilla or do you want a 800 lb foreign country gorilla leading US technology?
my 2 cents.
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Monopoly is a bad thing unless you are playing the board game - or the one who has the monopoly. I remember the days when it was IBM that was the big gun on the big iron.
ATBCharles Kincaid
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SET CARTOON_CHARACTER_RANT_MODE ON
A picture of Magilla Gorilla being used to humorously depict MS and Google. Tsk ... Tsk ... Tsk ... Steve, how could you even fathom taking such a lovable cartoon character and insert him into the hyperbolic MS/Google mess.
King Kong would have been more appropriate.
SET CARTOON_CHARACTER_RANT_MODE ON
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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OK, probably not fair to Magilla, but he was the first gorilla I thought of.
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SET CARTOON_CHARACTER_RANT_MODE OFF
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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I cannot agree with Steve's original comment about Microsoft being "transparent".
I have a Vista test PC that runs Windows Defender, which supposedly seeks out tracking cookies & other such nasties. But after it ran, I looked at the remaining cookies and recognized that some were in fact tracking cookies. I then installed Ad-Aware and it found & deleted those tracking cookies.
Makes me think that Defender has its own list of "good" tracking cookies that suit the company's purpose.
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Windows Defender actually allows Gator ... there was an article or discussion about this some time ago ...
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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I can't think of Magilla when thinking of a Gorilla as a mate has named her daughter 'Magilla' on her blog - and seeing this rampaging demon of a child (aren't they all?
) - it is no wonder.Yep - guess who is single with no kids
Is it any wonder?
As for Steve using the term of 800lb Gorilla: Mr Jones - you listen to too much 1950's British Radio Comedy! (or maybe that is me?
[for the uninitiated, The Goons, or rather, The Goon Show with Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan & Peter Sellers did a show back in the 50's called The 800lb Gorilla (can't remember exact date - sorry
The perfect crowd to listen to if you're into silly humour that may be regarded as a precursor or partial inspiration to Monty Python (IMO)]What was this topic about again?
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
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Ah yes, I grew up on re-runs of the Goon Show. Then later Monty Python, Fawlty Towers. In fact the whole British 'Magilla' - PUN INTENDED!
ATBCharles Kincaid
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William, while Microsoft doesn't disclose everything, they are fairly transparent in many ways. They put out a tremendous amount of information and encourage their people to do so.
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Google is interesting because its increasing share has had its greatest impact on industry leaders, and actually enabled the small businesses and users.
We will see how they handle regulation when they become large enough in market share and in $ to warrant government oversight. Microsoft's attitudes when this happened were calculated and cavalier.
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