TheLegacy
06-09-2008, 09:32 AM
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1811814,00.html
"...It's been riveting to watch three of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley—each representing a fundamental phase of the information era—battle it out. Apple, Google and Facebook are, respectively, an icon from the pioneering days of personal computers; the biggest, most profitable company yet born on the Web; and a feisty upstart whose name is synonymous with the current migration to social networks.
In many ways, these companies are technology's standard-bearers, though their guiding philosophies differ. Google, for instance, advocates an "open" Web and tends to push for open standards and alliances among developers. Facebook, with its gated community of 70 million active users, offers a more controlled experience and, so far at least, wants to keep its users safely within its walls. Apple comes from the old world. Its elegant products cocoon customers from the chaos of the information age, but the Apple experience tends to be highly controlled, with Apple hardware at the end points and Apple software and services, like the iTunes Music Store, in between.
The winners of the platform wars stand to make billions selling devices, selling eyeballs to advertisers, selling services such as music, movies, even computer power on demand. Yet the outcome here is far more important than who makes the most money. The future of the Internet—how we get information, how we communicate with one another and, most important, who controls it—is at stake."
For me - I would say google more than anything. Facebook is good, I have an account and managed to meet up with alot of old friends I thought I could never find. Yet - almost everyone I speak too are upset at FB because it has no care or concern for its customers. Profiles get canceled with no real reason - or - that idea that all our personal info is available to one major company for some evil purpose.
Mac on the other hand - I am finding does have its flaws despite the commercials. We just hired a new individual who uses only mac. Every technician we had shrugged their shoulders when trying to get him hooked up on the network, "we never worked with mac before". It seems to be an elitist platform with only a few knowing its benefits, and those are usually designers.
"...It's been riveting to watch three of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley—each representing a fundamental phase of the information era—battle it out. Apple, Google and Facebook are, respectively, an icon from the pioneering days of personal computers; the biggest, most profitable company yet born on the Web; and a feisty upstart whose name is synonymous with the current migration to social networks.
In many ways, these companies are technology's standard-bearers, though their guiding philosophies differ. Google, for instance, advocates an "open" Web and tends to push for open standards and alliances among developers. Facebook, with its gated community of 70 million active users, offers a more controlled experience and, so far at least, wants to keep its users safely within its walls. Apple comes from the old world. Its elegant products cocoon customers from the chaos of the information age, but the Apple experience tends to be highly controlled, with Apple hardware at the end points and Apple software and services, like the iTunes Music Store, in between.
The winners of the platform wars stand to make billions selling devices, selling eyeballs to advertisers, selling services such as music, movies, even computer power on demand. Yet the outcome here is far more important than who makes the most money. The future of the Internet—how we get information, how we communicate with one another and, most important, who controls it—is at stake."
For me - I would say google more than anything. Facebook is good, I have an account and managed to meet up with alot of old friends I thought I could never find. Yet - almost everyone I speak too are upset at FB because it has no care or concern for its customers. Profiles get canceled with no real reason - or - that idea that all our personal info is available to one major company for some evil purpose.
Mac on the other hand - I am finding does have its flaws despite the commercials. We just hired a new individual who uses only mac. Every technician we had shrugged their shoulders when trying to get him hooked up on the network, "we never worked with mac before". It seems to be an elitist platform with only a few knowing its benefits, and those are usually designers.