Just reading the news like everyone else this morning when the question slaps me upside the head: Which is more impressive: Google Apps or chimpanzees fashioning spears from sticks?
Don’t ask why. Answer the question, says the little voice. We’ll judge them on five categories.
Prey:
Google’s going after Microsoft, the 800-pound gorilla of the software world.
The spear-wielding chimps are hunting … bush-babies? I know they have to eat and that it’s a jungle out there, but honestly, bush-babies?
Gotta go with Google on prey.
Technology:
Google has the Web application. Everyone knows that shrink-wrapped software is going the way of the dinosaurs.
Chimps’ choice? Sticks … abundant, cheap, easily sharpened by your smarter primates, and, competitive barriers to entry would seem formidable.
Google’s following here and the chimps have been innovators for eons: Score tools for the chimps.
Effectiveness:
The chimps were apparently successful in spearing a bush-baby (I hate typing those words) once in 22 tries, according to this story in the Washington Post. That may not seem like a good batting average, but it beats the stuffing out of the alternative, which is grabbing prey by the tail and whacking its head against the ground.
One story I read quoted a Google executive as claiming that Google Apps is already being used in more than 100,000 small to midsize organizations, as well as a handful of heavyweights.
You can’t believe anything any vendor says, so I’m going with the chimps on effectiveness.
Marketing:
Google doesn’t need no stinkin’ marketing. The world beats a path to its door.
The chimps have managed to keep their spearing skills a secret, well, forever, which doesn’t do a lot in terms of boosting mindshare.
Marketing goes to Google.
Finally, price:
Google Apps will cost an enterprise $50 a head, far less than Microsoft Office, but still $50 a head.
The spears are free and you can’t beat free with a stick.
Price goes to the chimps, as does the final score: Chimps 3, Google Apps 2.
Glad we’ve settled that one.
