I don’t write a lot about “the industry” here but I can’t resist sharing a quick thought on how things are changing in the world of computers and the internet. Microsoft, once the behemoth of the technology world, announces a new search engine called “bing” and puts it into production. Reviews have been mostly positive but with their preview video of “Wave,” Google still somehow managed to not just steal the spotlight but to boot Microsoft right out the front door of the theater and to the curb. Everyone is talking about this product – which is just a step above vaporware at this point. Think about that for a moment: a single video of a product that is not even in beta yet displaces announcements about a shipping product from a – once “the” – major technology player.
And then think about the vision of these two products: Google is attempting to do nothing less than replace/evolve e-mail, the bedrock application of the internet; Microsoft is, well, making another search engine. Where is the innovation and who is in the driver’s seat? It seems to me the answer is clear, and it’s an answer that none of us would have predicted ten years ago.
“Wave” says big, sweeping, tumultuous. “Bing” says “pebble bouncing off my windshield.”