Computers: May 2005 Archives

A couple of things about Google have been bouncing around in my head lately, and it all came together with something that I read on Slashdot today. Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer made slashdot today, with is prediction that Google is a one-trick Pony, and as such will be dead in 5 years. Last week, I read an article by Robert X. Cringely, stating that the Google Web Accelerator is a portent of how Google will become a "platform". Thankfully, I don't think that either point of view is exactly correct.

While, it's probably true that if Google just sticks to search, Microsoft will be able to do to them what they did to Netscape, I don't think that is Google's game. I think that Google is looking to be a repository for accessing data. And the "platform" (if you can call it that), will be their API's, which allow 3rd party applications to interact with and add value to this data in their own ways.

Case in point: this Wired news article that I read the other day. It highlights several new applications that are making use of Google Maps in new and interesting ways. One of the applications that immediately grabbed me is something called HousingMaps, which combines apartment listings from craigslist with mapping information from Google. Go ahead and try it out -- it is super neat. But the reason why this application reached out and grabbed me is because this is something I could have really used the last time that I was looking for an apartment. With one click, I saw all of the current craigslist apartment listings as pushpins on Google's map. This is so awesome! And it is all made possible by the fact that Google's "platform" is eminently hackable and extendable by third parties.

Of course, the one thing that Microsoft touts over and over is that they provide a platform -- i.e. Windows -- which is a rich ecosystem for 3rd party developers to build their own applications, thus allowing the free market to serve customers in a way that no monolithic entity can. Well, guess what kids? Google can play that game too. And while I don't want to over-hype this (because hyping some company as a Microsoft-killer is a sure way to get them killed by Microsoft), I sure am keenly interested to see where this is going.

-Andy.

My copy of Tiger finally arrived today (iWork came yesterday). My initial analysis: Tiger fixes iSync not working with my crappy Nokia 6600 cell phone, so that is worth the price of admission right there.

-Andy.