4 ms·

Actually if anyone should worry it would be Google. Microsofts play here is very much like Google's, offer a free OS for a variety of phone hardware companies a

Actually if anyone should worry it would be Google. Microsofts play here is very much like Google's, offer a free OS for a variety of phone hardware companies and make money off of the services and app sales. Microsoft can offer a better OS and app store than google but still be on just as many pieces of hardware. Windows 8.1 on a phone is actually a better experience in a lot of ways than Android 4.4 already and it's just going to continue to go that way IMO.

threeseed 13y ago
100% spot on. Google is the one people need to be worried about. Should Siri and Cordova get to the point that people stop going to the browser to search then it could severely impact Google's mobile revenues. And what happens if Microsoft doubles down on Bing and convinces Apple to make it the default ? Android may have a large market share but iOS has a disproportionate share of browser usage. Google has a lot of enemies and zero friends. Precarious place to be in.
- ISL 13y ago
  'Zero friends' is a strong statement, don't you think? IMHO, Google is in its adolescence as a company. Its values of "don't be evil", transparency, etcetera are in the right place. Google has many bright and good-hearted people in its employ, and it's in them that I have the greatest faith. Cloud-hosted services and social networks, Google among them, are only beginning to work out their strengths, weaknesses, and consequences of their actions. But when I see how easily-rooted Android and Chrome OS are, Google's resistance to censorship in some countries, epidemiology outreach and more, I'm reminded that while there is darkness implicit in any company's great store of information, in Google's case there is a capacity and willingness to do good at scale. For that, I remain an optimist.
spo81rty 13y ago
I agree. Windows Phone is looking fantastic. I was highly impressed at Cortana and the other changes at Build.

threeseed 13y ago

100% spot on. Google is the one people need to be worried about. Should Siri and Cordova get to the point that people stop going to the browser to search then it could severely impact Google's mobile revenues. And what happens if Microsoft doubles down on Bing and convinces Apple to make it the default ? Android may have a large market share but iOS has a disproportionate share of browser usage. Google has a lot of enemies and zero friends. Precarious place to be in.

ISL 13y ago
'Zero friends' is a strong statement, don't you think? IMHO, Google is in its adolescence as a company. Its values of "don't be evil", transparency, etcetera are in the right place. Google has many bright and good-hearted people in its employ, and it's in them that I have the greatest faith. Cloud-hosted services and social networks, Google among them, are only beginning to work out their strengths, weaknesses, and consequences of their actions. But when I see how easily-rooted Android and Chrome OS are, Google's resistance to censorship in some countries, epidemiology outreach and more, I'm reminded that while there is darkness implicit in any company's great store of information, in Google's case there is a capacity and willingness to do good at scale. For that, I remain an optimist.

spo81rty 13y ago

I agree. Windows Phone is looking fantastic. I was highly impressed at Cortana and the other changes at Build.