elarson’s posterous

I just read this article by Seth Godin regarding the Next Google. While it is a lot of fun to talk about the "next" big thing, what struck me was the competitive perspective Microsoft has taken regarding Google. Microsoft became the definition of PC through partnering with IBM compatible computers. For whatever reason, it was appealing to IBM and the computer industry to effectively work together to create an ecosystem for personal computing. It is unclear why the web has ushered in an environment of extreme competition when the societal impact is easily as important.

In my mind, the collaborative nature of both PCs and the web seem very similar. Both considered the environment of available more important than exclusivity. This addresses needs of users to feel that what they create and consume is something they control. All and all, it makes sense that when you enable people to communicate under their own terms, the environment is extremely valuable.

So why then when Microsoft had such a huge portion of the market chose to focus on web presence instead of collaborating with folks like Yahoo! and Google? Why did they waste the time fighting a browser war? Why did win the war and leave the winning browser to rot? It just doesn't make sense to me. Nothing they have done promotes the users need to communicate on their own terms. Google meets users needs by providing a way to find things to consume. If Microsoft were acting as they did before, it seems like the focus should be on integrating their creative software with the web. This is not a web based word processor, but rather an obvious way for people to create web content that is Google compatible.

In reality, I'm OK with how things have gone. I could do without testing Internet Explorer, but I am glad that Apple has gained market share. I'm glad that Microsoft has been ignoring its duties as the singular provider of operatiing systems in order to create subpar web entities. The lack of success seems to only help new systems to become the "next" big thing. With that said, I do wonder what sort of web we'd have if Microsoft had taken a compatability approach to the web instead of the exclusivity path.