Google Sets Its Sights on Apple

[maflynn]

Apple is Big Brother? LOL Yeah...right.

Yet, apple in its ministry of truth is dictating what's appropriate, in their app store approval process.

Heck, they've denied a pulitzer prize winner's political cartoon app, They pulled a mulsim app, but kept a similar Christian bashing one. They are determining what information is being released on the iPhone.

They were (are?) trying to force developers to only use iAds and no other ad company. They restricted developers from using any other sdk other then theirs.

Sounds like big brother to me

 

[AidenShaw]

Google controls and mines more personal data and tracks more personal habits to maximize advertising than anyone. They own massive amounts of satellite imagery and have it linked to everyone's address, with images of your front door. This is tied to your name, phone number, and other personal data and habits. They will be in your living room monitoring and providing your TV and tracking your music tastes. They gobble up books and digitize them with out permission.

Google owns Hell too...

 

[Champ1]

did apple celebrate Pac-Man turning 30 on their front page? no. that's yet another reason why google is way more awesome than apple.

... also, you can actually play that google pac man logo! (just wait for it to load)

Interesting what you find awesomw.

 

[jimbobb24]

Apple's contribution was to take these three existing concepts and link them together. That's what they do. They take existing technologies that for one reason or another haven't taken off (online music stores, tablets, smartphone web browsers) and redesign them in a way that make them easy to use. They are innovative when it comes to building ecosystems, but for FFS, stop buying into the notion that Apple is the cradle of innovation. Microsoft borrows and steals, Google borrows and steals, Apple borrows and steals. None of them are God. It wasn't that many years ago that Apple relied on Microsoft to supply a ***** web browser for MacOS, and the iPhone relies heavily on Google for some services (search, maps, YouTube).

For the purposes of general English language and not internet point scoring pendantics, I am pretty comfortable with saying Apple is the most aggressively innovative tech company. But here...give yourself 20 internet points...I think you've earned it with that salvo.

 

[Anuba]

Why would you think something like that? If all the rumors (from reputable sites like WSJ) aren't enough to convince you, the fact that AT&T is dramatically increasing their early termination fee should tell you that Apple isn't planning on sticking to just one playground anymore.

Right, and let's not forget about the rest of the world. Most countries have 2, 3 or even 4 iPhone carriers already and some allow you to buy unlocked iPhones. The US is 1/3 of Apple's market. The remaining 2/3 are not locked to AT&T or to a single local carrier.

For the purposes of general English language and not internet point scoring pendantics, I am pretty comfortable with saying Apple is the most aggressively innovative tech company. But here...give yourself 20 internet points...I think you've earned it with that salvo.

Not sure what the "English language" remark was about, but it's a foreign language to me so I'm always on thin ice when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. I know how to spell "pedantics", though.

 

[435713]

Well Google has come up with a very innovative idea called carrier choice. Apple will stick exclusively with AT&T until the market share is so lopsided Android vs. iPhone will look more like Windows vs. Mac.

It's not just the Big 4 carriers in the US that are selling Android phones. The smaller carriers (US Cellular as an example) are also picking up Android phones. Android is hitting 100,000 new activations a day according to Google.

Dude if Apple was on all the carries it wouldn't matter. So many Droid phones come out its obvious whose favor it would be in. IF windowsMo got its hands in all the cookie jars it would be the same story, WebOS, whatever its going to sell more by default.

 

[skyehill]

Apple is the new Microsoft. Gonna be fun watching Google stomp them.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Why would you think something like that? If all the rumors (from reputable sites like WSJ) aren't enough to convince you, the fact that AT&T is dramatically increasing their early termination fee should tell you that Apple isn't planning on sticking to just one playground anymore.

As Steve said himself...."Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them"

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[shakenmartini]

Apple is the new Microsoft. Gonna be fun watching Google stomp them.

No, apple is not the new ms, google, is the new ms

Apple doesn't need market share to win, since they are extremely profitable being small. With the exception of iPods Apple really is not dominant in any market they are in (marketshare wise). To be honest it amazes me how many other companies pay attention to and copy apple given how snail their market share is with most products. Even the iPhone market share is relatively small.

Google on the other hand must be big, because they rely on being big to leverage ad sales. This is why google gives you everhing for free, they want your information and your eyeballs to sell ads.

 

[jimbobb24]

Not sure what the "English language" remark was about, but it's a foreign language to me so I'm always on thin ice when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. I know how to spell "pedantics", though.

Obviously, you just won this discussion. I submit.

 

[skellener]

Apple TV - Google TV
iTunes - Wireless Android Music Syncing
iAds - Google Ads / Admob
h.264 - WebM/VP8
iPhone OS - Android OS

Well I think having Google offer more choices is great. What remains to be seen is whether they will support the Mac. I still don't think you can sync a Zune with a Mac (unless you use something like DoubleTwist). Microsoft doesn't support this on the Mac do they?

Will GoogleTV be a service like Netflix that runs everywhere? That would be great. Or simply another set top box with a single service ala AppleTV? That would be lame.

I do not own an Android device so forgive me. Is there anyway to sync Android music to the Mac offered by Google?

Ads...hmmm..I don't know if most people care who puts ads on their devices. Most people would probably prefer never having them so I don't know if this matters to consumers, but more to the individual companies drawing the revenue.

So will Google support the Mac and iPhone with WebM/VP8? Probably much harder to do with the iPhone OS since it will need Apple approval, but will it support it on the Mac with a codec download?

 

[WilliamLondon]

Apple is the new Microsoft.

I couldn't disagree agree more - your criteria must be so different than mine, I'd love to know how you conclude that Apple is the new Microsoft, because they in my mind couldn't be more different.

How do you think they are similar? Please explain.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Yet, apple in its ministry of truth is dictating what's appropriate, in their app store approval process.

Heck, they've denied a pulitzer prize winner's political cartoon app, They pulled a mulsim app, but kept a similar Christian bashing one. They are determining what information is being released on the iPhone.

They were (are?) trying to force developers to only use iAds and no other ad company. They restricted developers from using any other sdk other then theirs.

Sounds like big brother to me

Sounds more like a douchey teach company. All of your points only impact people with iPhones or other iProducts. Google has information on basically everyone without the permission from many people. Google Maps, Earth, Streetview, Adsense, TV, music, etc.

 

[arn]

I couldn't disagree agree more - your criteria must be so different than mine, I'd love to know how you conclude that Apple is the new Microsoft, because they in my mind couldn't be more different.

How do you think they are similar? Please explain.

ya. Apple is still very much Apple.

arn

 

[alexbo]

Right.

"Beyond internet search, Google hopes to infiltrate mobile phones and television as well."

"Infiltrate?" --Really? That's the word you chose? Why not just go all the way and call them terrorists...

Thanks for the unbiased reporting.

 

[ranReloaded]

Big Brother is Watching You...Tube

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

ya. Apple is still very much Apple.

arn

I'm interested to know why you think this is the same company that started with a couple of phone hackers and a very open developer community. It seems like all they do today is absorb other companies and use technologies made elsewhere to power a great synergy computer lifestyle where all aspects of the interface are approved by Apple.

 

[rmwebs]

H.264 is FREE and makes no money for anyone, and the same goes for WebM. If anything WebM is a GOOD thing for Apple (providing they arent stupid enough NOT to support it!) as it provides another open alternative to Flash!

Lets be fair here: Apple and Google stepped on each others toes - its a two way street. Its not Google being 'nasty' or 'evil', its business. How does a company secure its future and provide an income? By expanding into both existing and new markets.

All these new things make perfect sense.Google have an OS coming out, and they need a 'unique' point about it. They'll integrate a bunch of this stuff, to provide people with a reason to use it.

Google TV - also makes sense - a new place to advertise!

Before you keep bashing Google, take a second to actually think about the business side of it. Google aren't trying to take out Apple, and Apple aren't tying to take out Google. They are both trying to compete for the same audience - and that's as far as it goes.

I congratulate Google on these new challenges, and look forward to seeing how Apple try to wipe it out in their own special way

(Excuse the semi-rantish post!)

 

[macsmurf]

That is a gross oversimplification of the BSD and OS X relationship.

True. When in Rome... I do stand by my point, though.

HTC's Sense is really just a GUI (they do add in some new widgets). While many of the technologies on OS X are based on open source projects, Apple makes many enhancement and many of them go back to the open source community.

The problem with Android, for me, was the lack of updates. If I want 2.1, I have to wait for HTC to throw Sense in. Which meant I would have been waiting a ling time (in fact I did before I switched back to iPhone). So while Android advanced I was stuck in the past, sure I could have rooted and installed one of the unofficial ROMs but should I have to on this "open" platform?

I think this is a valid concern that will need to be addressed in the future. It's part of the reason I haven't bought an Android yet. Google can only do so much to make it happen. In the end it would be the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide an upgrade path.

The manufacturer would rather you bought a new phone, of course, so they might not be inclined to make this particularly easy. On the other hand, I believe it will be a natural result of the competition; supporting regular updates could make users change brand.

Bear in mind, Android is still very young.

 

[Somethingson]

Google rants and attacks tells me that apple is doing well ( but we know this).

Remember the guy that got pissed at you because you had a beatifull girlfriend, and then you had to fight him time and again?

Yeah and then you saved the world from aliens.

I don't think that actually happened, dude.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

H.264 is FREE and makes no money for anyone, and the same goes for WebM. If anything WebM is a GOOD thing for Apple (providing they arent stupid enough NOT to support it!) as it provides another open alternative to Flash!

H.264 is not free. For companies to include the technology in their applications (like Firefox) they would have to pay royalty fees. Something Mozilla cannot afford to do.

 

[ValSalva]

I'm interested to know why you think this is the same company that started with a couple of phone hackers and a very open developer community. It seems like all they do today is absorb other companies and use technologies made elsewhere to power a great synergy computer lifestyle where all aspects of the interface are approved by Apple.

It's all Jobs. It's been that way even more so since Woz left. Woz had the open phone hacker philosophy whereas Jobs has always been the closed, seal it up, make it an appliance guy.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

And to think, Eric and steve used to be the best of friends. Now they are against each other more than Apple and Google, Oh wait!

Eric and Steve were never the best of friends. This goes back to the days of NeXT and Sun with Openstep.

They were cordial this time around, until Eric revealed his hand. That's it.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

It's all Jobs. It's been that way even more so since Woz left. Woz had the open phone hacker philosophy whereas Jobs has always been the closed, seal it up, make it an appliance guy.

I wish I had realized the implications that would have before I invested thousands of dollars into Apple hardware and software. But that's life.

 

[WeegieMac]

Why It was an inferior product. Blu-ray is not perfect by any means, but it's a hell of a lot better than HD-DVD.

It wasn't at the time the "war was won" between the formats.

Labels switching to Blu-Ray won the war, not the quality of the technology.

It wasn't until the 2.0 profile that Blu-Ray got some of the features that HD-DVD had from the word go, like the picture in picture features, etc.