Google's latest foray against Microsoft
Google recently announced the Chromebook, available for order June 15. This is Google’s version of a notebook, built and optimized for the web, using the Chrome web browser (or does that make it a netbook?). When demo’ed at Google’s I/O conference this month, they used the login name of Tim Rizzo.
This is certainly an interesting bit of satire here.
Tom just happens to be the senior director of online services at Microsoft, who responded that Google can keep using his name in demos because his “logging into a Chromebook will never be a reality” (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/052411-microsoft-chromebook.html).
Rizzo has worked at Microsoft for over 16 years, since he graduated from college. You could call him a lifer.
Satire aside, let’s look at Google’s proposal.
Today, although Google is challenging Microsoft’s Office business with Google Apps – after challenging their browser business, phone business, and every sort of business they can – Office is in no danger of losing its lead. The web-based Office 365 certainly doesn’t hurt in going head-to-head against Google’s potential market.
Google’s premise is computing and the Internet are synonymous. I still have to wonder about this. There remain many places where it is hard to get Internet access, and sometimes that access is via dialup. When you are not able to connect to that Internet cloud or if its painfully slow, what are you going to do with applications that only work when you’re online with high bandwidth? Although smart phones are able to go where no computer has gone before, the form factor presents its own limitations. And reliable fast (3G/4G) service may never hit smaller metropolitan and rural areas of America.
Maybe I’m missing something by not jumping completely on the Internet-only bandwagon, but I still see issues with Google’s premise.
