[Sorry I reply only now. I didn't notice your message]
Gilboa Davara wrote:
Umm...
I'm not saying that Google is not a monopoly.
I am saying that they are no-where near Microsoft.
OK, I agree. But they become more and more like Microsoft every year.
Hiring people who formerly worked at Microsoft is a good start. If they
don't want to be like Microsoft, they shouldn't hire people who worked
there.
But:
A. Google service is free. No-one is forcing you to use it. Microsoft
is, essentially forcing you to use their service. (DRM sounds familiar?)
I agree Microsoft is more aggressive. But also with Google, it's very
difficult to avoid them. For example, with Adwords and Adsense - there
is almost no competition. With Gmail too. And even if you don't use
Gmail, your E-mail messages can be stored in their service if you send
mail to people who use Gmail. And there are many of them.
Not to speak about their search engine, of course, which has no real
competition. They are a monopoly.
B. Altavista search engine is as good as google. (Though their interface
stinks.)
I checked it now (after years of not using Altavista) and came to the
ultimate conclusion: Altavista sucks! I searched for "Speedy Composer",
"Speedy Whois" and "Speedy Net" and didn't get the same answer I get
with Google (as the first result). Assuming that the Google answer is
what I am looking for (which is), I don't see any reason why to use
Altavista. Not to mention that the sponsored links look exactly like
the search engine results - it's very hard to distinguish between them.
P.S. I checked and even Yahoo search is better than Altavista. But not
as good as Google.
C. Lock in? How can google lock someone? If their prices will be too
high, people will go elsewhere. (MSN?, Altavista? Yahoo?)
Not true with monopolies. Remember that the search engine users don't
pay anything, and the advertisers need these people. But it's not only
about price, it's about customer support. Their customer support sucks.
D. As for Gmail: Yahoo mail? HotMail? Heck, walla.co.il mail? Anything
rings a bell?
E. Please supply one anti-trust case and/or one major IP case that
Google settles just to stay afloat.
When google starts stealing code from Altavista and other search
engines, start creating their "own" non-compatible HTML code, force you
to install software just to use their service that costs shit-load of
money while neglecting to fix bugs in said software and use their
billion of $$$ to block countless anti-trust court-cases and/or
legislations, then and only then, I'll find your Google is the next
Microsoft call will seem less absurd.
Didn't you hear what they do in China? They block websites which the
Chinese government don't like. But that's just one example. Believe me,
in a few years you will not distinguish between Google and Microsoft.
It's the law of monopolies (whenever there is a monopoly, prices go up
and service go down. They always use their power to increase market
share in markets where they are not yet monopolies).
Best Regards,
Uri Even-Chen
Speedy Net
Raanana, Israel.
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: +972-9-7715013
Website: www.uri.co.il
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