Microsoft has been castigated ever since its inception. Whether it was because of the closed source platform, proprietary products or buggy operating systems and software, Microsoft has always been the punching bag of all and sundry. While a lot of the criticism has been totally warranted, a similar amount, if not less, has been unwarranted. Despite all the shortcomings, Microsoft still has the best office suite available and after nearly 25 years, Windows still remains the standard to beat and the standard which made computers accessible to all. More on Microsoft later.
Which brings me to Google. Anything that Google touches nowadays turns to gold. People extol Google for its role in empowering people and promoting open-source software (read Android). Google has been commended for providing great software (Picasa, Chrome just to name a few) for free. The internet community in turn has taken to Google in droves. Everybody loves Google. Ask anyone why and they would be quick to tell you that Google supports open-source and gives great stuff for free and obliterates monopoly on the internet into oblivion.
Then comes Apple (the Antichrist, if you consider Google to be Christ or vice-versa), the veracious antipode of Google, the company that rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Somehow, anything by Apple is inherently super cool. While anything by Google is gold, anything by Apple is solid weapons-grade plutonium. Ask anyone what’s so dandy about Apple’s stuff and comes the propitious riposte, its interface.
Really? Are cute-looking devices and glossy icons that seamlessly glide into each other all it takes to be cool? Then how come the Samsung Pebble S2 and Windows 7 never came close to being cool with their dainty looks and glossy icons?
Apple has been assiduously monopolistic in their approach towards everything they produce. Apple wants us to pay for putting songs on iPods (at $0.99 a pop!) to even pay for software for using the devices they manufacture. What started with Bluetooth-less iPods, progressed to iPads without USB(!) ports to the requirement of gazillions of Apple-licensed adapters and Apple doodads to connect Apple devices to other devices or even to each other.
Weren’t you just blabbering on something about everything being open-source and free and bringing power to the people? Wasn’t that cool just a while ago? How come suddenly the exact contrariety of that got cool?
Giving power to the users? Just try installing a different browser on an iPad or using different, non-apple licensed earphones(!) on the latest Shuffle.
The fact is, all of these three have been monopolistic in their approach. While Microsoft has always been criticized for its monopolistic tendencies, Apple while being ostentatiously monopolistic and milking customers out of their cash, is still considered the uber-cool and anything by Apple is nirvana personified.
Google’s alleged corporate motto, ‘Don’t be evil’, certainly doesn’t ring true in light of the workings of the company. What with Google placing cookies that don’t expire till 2038 to stealing personal data and passwords from Wi-Fi networks. Is this Google sticking to its motto? How else do you explain Orkut allowing only Youtube (a Google service) to post videos and Google bundling tons of useless stuff along with Firefox and other software it promotes (just like MS)?
Want to try it youself? Try using Opera to open websites by Google, Apple or Microsoft. As soon as you visit Orkut, Bing maps, or iTunes, you get a friendly message stating “Your browser is incompatible with this web content. Please upgrade to a compatible browser” while they proudly ask you to download their own browsers. Amusingly, as soon as you mask Opera as IE or Firefox, everything becomes compatible(!) miraculously and all of these seem to work splendidly. (Opera developers have added a feature in which you can hide/mask/impersonate the browser to identify itself at IE or Firefox)
Interestingly, a highly resource-intensive website like Facebook (which is not owned by MS, Google or Apple) works splendidly with Opera. Incidentally, Opera is the only browser besides Safari which passes the Acid3 test with flying colors. (If you wish, you can test your “precocious” browser here.)
The consequence of the above big three fighting for monopoly is that the underdog or startup companies which make some really neat products are being neglected. It is already difficult for them to complete against the financial might of any of these companies and furthermore, netizens don’t seem to be bothered about it. They are perfectly happy with Microsoft’s buggy software, Apple’s cash milking ways and Google’s monopolistic approach and data thefts.
Nothing stays number one on the internet forever. Remember AltaVista? You do, barely. It was once the king of the internet hill once, like Google is now. None of these 3 are gonna stay on top forever. However, they are making sure it doesn’t happen anytime soon and are being quite successful in delaying the next wave of change.
I, personally, root for every underdog with potential. Remember, Google was once an underdog too. I, for one, am ready for the next wave. Are you? Are you willing to go out on a limb and give the underdog a chance to prove itself and play a role in bringing the change? If yes, how about helping and supporting an underdog today?
(PS: My sincere apologies for the inordinate length of the article)
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