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People incorrectly give Google credit for quality when it's not deserved. There are very few products that Google makes that would survive in the "real" market

by dstein 15y ago

People incorrectly give Google credit for quality when it's not deserved. There are very few products that Google makes that would survive in the "real" marketplace if they weren't free and not subsidized by their search revenue. Google Docs/GMail/Calendar is not even in the same ballpark as Microsoft Office in terms of quality. ChromeOS is pretty bad compared to any version of Windows. Android isn't nearly as good as Windows Phone 7. Google just undercuts everybody with free products in a some sort of "burn down the forrest" strategy.

tnorthcutt 15y ago
A marketplace doesn't have to include an exchange of currency in order to be "real".
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
arkitaip 15y ago
What's a "real" marketplace? Actually, I don't think it matters because millions of businesses pay for Google Apps, the packaged version of their office suite [1]. [1] http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/customers/ http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/customers/
- dstein 15y ago
  How many of these businesses would buy Google Apps for the same or more than what Microsoft Office + Exchange costs? That's how I judge quality. And I can pretty much guarantee that few, or none of those businesses would choose Google Apps over Office at the same price points. And more importantly the revenue Google did receive wouldn't cover the costs of running the Google Apps infrastructure. It would be a terrible business if run independently. My point is people say Google's products are higher quality, but the marketplace says otherwise.
cageface 15y ago
The best selling Android phones are no cheaper than Windows phones, yet customers seem to be happy to pay real money for them. GMail can easily compete on quality with any mail client at any price. Many businesses are quite willing to pay for Google docs. Chrome is gaining market share because it's better than anything else. Google's crappy products have met with the failure they deserved. Google is the only tech giant that doesn't see tech as a zero-sum game and this scares the shit out of the old guard. The louder they scream and point fingers the more obvious it is how threatened they are by a competitor that's willing to compete on open standards.

by dstein 15y ago

tnorthcutt 15y ago

A marketplace doesn't have to include an exchange of currency in order to be "real".

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

arkitaip 15y ago

What's a "real" marketplace? Actually, I don't think it matters because millions of businesses pay for Google Apps, the packaged version of their office suite [1]. [1] http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/customers/ http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/customers/

dstein 15y ago
How many of these businesses would buy Google Apps for the same or more than what Microsoft Office + Exchange costs? That's how I judge quality. And I can pretty much guarantee that few, or none of those businesses would choose Google Apps over Office at the same price points. And more importantly the revenue Google did receive wouldn't cover the costs of running the Google Apps infrastructure. It would be a terrible business if run independently. My point is people say Google's products are higher quality, but the marketplace says otherwise.

cageface 15y ago

The best selling Android phones are no cheaper than Windows phones, yet customers seem to be happy to pay real money for them. GMail can easily compete on quality with any mail client at any price. Many businesses are quite willing to pay for Google docs. Chrome is gaining market share because it's better than anything else. Google's crappy products have met with the failure they deserved. Google is the only tech giant that doesn't see tech as a zero-sum game and this scares the shit out of the old guard. The louder they scream and point fingers the more obvious it is how threatened they are by a competitor that's willing to compete on open standards.