5 ms·

> It is typically very hard for a company to change what they actually do Microsoft started out selling BASIC runtimes. Then they moved into operating systems

> It is typically very hard for a company to change what they actually do Microsoft started out selling BASIC runtimes. Then they moved into operating systems. Then they moved into Cloud. Satya seems to be putting his money where his mouth is and working hard to transition the company to AI now. Apple has likewise undergone multiplet transformations over the decades. However Google has the unique problem that their main cash cow is absurdly lucrative and has been an ongoing source of extreme income for multiple decades now, where as other companies typically can't get away with a single product line keeping them on top of the world for 20+ years. (Windows being an exception, maybe Microsoft is an exception, but say what you will about MS, they pushed technology forward throughout the 90s and accomplished their goal of a PC in every house)

sharemywin 3y ago
Office was the cash cow compared to windows.
- stonogo 3y ago
  Microsoft effectively controlling the PC market as a platform to sell Excel is akin to Google controlling web standards as a platform to sell ads.
- mcosta 3y ago
  Now is Active directory + Office 365 + Teams
samatman 3y ago
Also, though I dislike it greatly, Microsoft purchasing GitHub was a brilliant way to buy into a growing segment which were natively hostile to what they stand for. LinkedIn, maybe less clever, they only make pocket change on it, but it is profitable. Google doesn't really do acquisitions on that level. They do buy companies, but with the purpose of incorporating their biological distinctiveness into the collective. This tends to highlight their many failures in capturing new markets. The last high-profile successful purchase by Google, that I recall at least, were YouTube and Android, nearly twenty years ago.
- greiskul 3y ago
  Waze was bought 10 years ago, and I think that one went well. They didn't try to integrate it to the whole Google Account thing, but they definitely share data between it and Maps (so Waze users get better maps, and Google Maps gets better live traffic information).
michael1999 3y ago
Remember that Microsoft spent 10 years fighting the open internet, and only launched the cloud much later. The Windows business was allergic to the web-model, and they fought it tooth and nail.
- ShamelessC 3y ago
  In fairness, the web model tends to be objectively worse in every way except profits.

sharemywin 3y ago

Office was the cash cow compared to windows.

stonogo 3y ago
Microsoft effectively controlling the PC market as a platform to sell Excel is akin to Google controlling web standards as a platform to sell ads.
mcosta 3y ago
Now is Active directory + Office 365 + Teams

samatman 3y ago

Also, though I dislike it greatly, Microsoft purchasing GitHub was a brilliant way to buy into a growing segment which were natively hostile to what they stand for. LinkedIn, maybe less clever, they only make pocket change on it, but it is profitable. Google doesn't really do acquisitions on that level. They do buy companies, but with the purpose of incorporating their biological distinctiveness into the collective. This tends to highlight their many failures in capturing new markets. The last high-profile successful purchase by Google, that I recall at least, were YouTube and Android, nearly twenty years ago.

greiskul 3y ago
Waze was bought 10 years ago, and I think that one went well. They didn't try to integrate it to the whole Google Account thing, but they definitely share data between it and Maps (so Waze users get better maps, and Google Maps gets better live traffic information).

michael1999 3y ago

Remember that Microsoft spent 10 years fighting the open internet, and only launched the cloud much later. The Windows business was allergic to the web-model, and they fought it tooth and nail.

ShamelessC 3y ago
In fairness, the web model tends to be objectively worse in every way except profits.