Google Sets Its Sights on Apple

[cvaldes]

We have just begun to see Apple's vertical integration advantage in the mobile arena. This might be the killer combo. In terms of hardware, they have picked up P.A. Semi and Intrinsity. In a couple of years, we may see some Apple ARM silicon that leaves the competition lacking. If Apple picks up Imagination Technologies as well, we might see further Apple SoC improvements.

Google simply doesn't have that advantage of complete vertical integration, nor does it have a long history of VLSI innovation and hardware manufacturing prowess. Apple finally figured out the consumer electronics market with the iPod. Google has nothing like that.

It will be interesting to see how both sides position themselves, but right now, my money's on Apple.

I'm glad to see that Google has picked such a formidable opponent: the consumers usually win regardless, just because competition spurs innovation.

 

[spotlight07]

Google has never been about quality, all they do is play the numbers game, being everywhere and earning everywhere, but there's nothing that they do particularly well. That's not how Apple works, they focus on a few things and try to do them right.

Quality ...means lots of different things. Google's software is less buggy than Microsoft's ...and neither of them make software that looks as great as Apple's. But quality to Google is a product that functions well. Quality at Microsoft, if lacking, is added in the Marketing department. Apple defines quality as aesthetically pleasing and adds the least possible features based what they think they can get away with and still make you buy it. If you want a feature from Apple you had better hope its a feature that fits with the lowest common denominator. ...no blu-ray (I bought it anyway) ...no removable battery (I bought it anyway) ...no camera on the iPad (I bought it anyway)

It doesn't shine like Apple's does but at least I get a choice with Google's competition.

 

[inkswamp]

I think Google is full of crap right now and half of these announcements are vaporware intended to stave off Apple's lead. The general tone of their conference gives it away. I ran across this very insightful piece by Kara Swisher about that. It would seem that Google is a bit rattled by Apple despite their apparent willingness to take them on with each of these initiatives. Funny that the tone of their Google IO conference was so defensive, something I noticed as I followed the coverage. Swisher is the only tech writer out there commenting on it and openly pondering what it might mean.

 

[Johnnnny]

Just going over Apple's patent submissions over the past few months/years shows that, need be, they have a HUGE arsenal of ideas and features never seen before that they can implement in the next iteration of the iPhone... If they ever need to do so.

I think what Jobs is trying to do is think ahead. Apple has got all these amazing ideas, one of which is a great algorithm for flawless music streaming from your computer, and another to integrate a front facing camera into the screen itself (for video conferencing with eye contact).

It is very, very wise to keep new features to a minimum to keep the vast majority (non nerds like the sample population of these rumor/news sites) happy, while maintaining a huge list of potential (and probably READY TO IMPLEMENT) features. That, as well as waiting for hardware prices to drop for even more profitability.

That said from a strictly business perspective, of course.

Apple isn't running out of ideas. They just still think they're ahead. Apple has an extremely strong hand to play, they're just waiting for the right time to blow the world away (again) and bring back said WOW factor in a way we've never seen before.

 

[inkswamp]

From what I can see, Google is offering openness and choice in their solutions/software/products. It seems they are just a counterpart to Apple, who don't offer openness or choice.

What exactly is your definition of "open?"

 

[smiddlehurst]

Glad Google is doing this... Apple will have to lower the prices since Google is likely to offer most of its products for free, and even some of them open source while Apple is closed source and at prices for Apple customers

Sorry Steve... you cannot fight Google Try to come up with decent prices and you might not fail, otehrwise... good luck...

Okay I'm sorry but have you been paying attention to Apple at all in the last 5 years+?

Apple aren't interested in world domination. Sure it's a nice side effect but Apple have been utterly focused on dominating the high end of any market as that's where they can make good profit margains and, at the same time, avoid the race for the bottom that's been gutting the PC market for several years now.

Take the iPhone as a prime example - of COURSE Android is going to overtake it, that was inevitable from the moment it emerged as the natural replacement for WM6.5. Even if Apple lowered the iPhone price to zero they'd still get beaten in marketshare because, quite simply, they're one company up against many and don't have the same manufacturing infastructure (and they'd be foolish to try and aquire that much unless they could maintain margains).

It's the same story with every Apple product - it's a high quality, desireable package with a suitably high price tag. That market survived the worst depression for, what, 50 years or more? So it's hardly a particularly dangerous situation to be in. Apple have proved that people WILL pay for a suitably high-quality product (quality being a mix of design, simplicty, ease of use etc) and have a wealth of services behind those products providing added value.

Honestly, the one company that should be worried about Google more than any is Microsoft. It's their market that Google is eyeing with open source alternatives to paid-for OS's that, right now anyway, are ahead in a lot of key areas. If there is a shift in the consumer market to iPad-like devices Microsoft may suddenly find itself boxed in and its primary revenue source badly hurt (there's a reason its putting so much energy and money behind WP7 after all).

 

[Darkroom]

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)

 

[flottenheimer]

I love both Apple & Google.

If Google stops supporting Apples products/services or vice versa that's when trouble will start for me as an end user. Right now, there's no indication of this actually happening.

 

[inkswamp]

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.

Apple changes their front page when it's truly warranted, not when they want to generate a few cheap headlines by pandering to geeks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernelpanic/11387944/in/set-283374/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernelpanic/56236086/in/set-283374/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernelpanic/1555639630/in/set-283374/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernelpanic/4444314985/in/set-283374/

 

[chatin]

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)

Fun game, better than the one on the iPad! Google is in the business of making life better. Apple needs to quit making life miserable for the competition.

 

[NSMonkey]

I have to say, as a user i like openness, the vast majority of the software i use on a daily basis is open source.

But apple have quality on their side, one of the things keeping me in the apple camp as far as personal computers are concerned is how high quality their hardware is, bundle minimal crap ware with their OS, and well, very few PC manufactures have the same 'feel' as a piece of apple hardware, so i'm somewhat willing to pay the premium it entails.

I am feeling very apprehensive about iOS however, i suppose i can understand a few of the restrictions, because even already,iOS is inundated with crapware, and my ipod touch is very slick, but i fear for OSX.

If jobs' starts putting similar restrictions that the iPhone is suffering onto the desktop operating system, hell, i'm jumping ship.

Check out this article by Bruce Tognazzini. He makes the case that the amount of control Apple exerts over its platforms is proportional to the platform's age and novelty. It's worth reading, especially since his analysis is based on a long-term relationship with Apple.

Personally, I agree with Tog and don't believe Apple will make any effort whatsoever to "backport" iPhone OS-style restrictions to Mac OS X. The platform is already well-established and additional restrictions wouldn't add much value for users and wouldn't create any significant new revenue opportunities. I wouldn't be shocked to see something like an app store for OS X, but it would be an additional software distribution channel -- not a mandatory replacement of the current, ad hoc system.

 

[TwoBytes]

My feeling is that Apple should go into the search engine business and blow google out of the water. Apple would make a smoking engine! That would really hit google. We're still in the early days of the internet so Apple, get in there! Esp with all the new server farms apple is building...

Not to take away from this thread but if you want to discuss more i've made a a dedicated topic in the Apple, Industry and Internet Discussion board

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9949282#post9949282

 

[inkswamp]

The commenter you responded to said that Google's swipes at Apple are evidence that Apple is doing well. You're only proving his point by linking to a video of Jobs taking a swipe at Microsoft. Or did you mean to suggest that Microsoft was not doing well in 2006? While I didn't keep an especially close watch, I'm pretty sure their absolute dominance of the desktop PC market was very much in tact for that entire year.

It's not the taking swipes as the competition. It's the tone and frequency of them. Jobs has a long history of taking swipes at Microsoft, but they're few and far between. By contrast, the incessant Apple commentary at Google IO came off as defensive and petty.

 

[nuckinfutz]

My feeling is that Apple should go into the search engine business and blow google out of the water. Apple would make a smoking engine! That would really hit google. We're still in the early days of the internet so Apple, get in there! Esp with all the new server farms apple is building...

Not to take away from this thread but if you want to discuss more i've made a a dedicated topic in the Apple, Industry and Internet Discussion board

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9949282#post9949282

They already have

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/2...ch-closer-to-the-knowledge-navigator-concept/

 

[Consultant]

Google must be hiring the same FUDsters Microsoft hires.

Apple did not lose to Microsoft "last round"

1. Microsoft was given the monopoly by IBM, which is scared of Apple.
2. Morons signed away Apple intellectual property to Microsoft when Steve Jobs was ousted.

RIM and Nokia are not going to give away their smart phone business to Google (especially when Google showed with N1 that Google has zero clue on how to deal with actual paying customers).

 

[NSMonkey]

Google is EXACTLY what Mac and Apple product users should LOVE!

I want Google to battle Apple fiercely on all fronts.

Competition will force Apple to actually consider its users. A Google Chrome OS and Android could force Apple to continually update its products to be not slight improvements over the former models but rather products that actually compete with Google's at every step. Frequent updates with better components that provide substantial updates.

I hope Google truly battles Apple on every product Apple sells. I don't care whether it's MP3 players, routers, displays, smartphone OS, mobile computers, professional computers, tablets, and etc. I want Google to truly go for it and make Apple give a damn about its customers by forcing Apple to provide better products in comparison with Google. Chrome OS could really be the start of something big and benefit all of us Mac users more than OS X could benefit us.

I look forward to this new Google gunning for Apple at every step of the way.

Ahhh, so the secret to Apple's success is that they don't "give a damn" about their customers! All these years, I've wondered what it was and now you've uncovered it. You should write one of those "How to Make a Million Dollars With My Secret Business Formula" books. One of the selling points would be that the technique is so easy implement. I mean, how tough is it to just not care? Not tough at all!

 

[SeaFox]

Lets look at this....

Apple TV - Google TV
Apple did this first. (Google setting sights on Apple)

iTunes - Wireless Android Music Syncing
I don't know how wirlelessly syncing with someone iTunes library is detrimental to Apple in any way. Apple may end up selling MORE music if Android users are able to easily sync with iTunes. (No target either side.)

iAds - Google Ads / Admob
Aem... Google did ads first.... (Apple set sights on Google)

h.264 - WebM/VP8
H.264 is not entirely an Apple product and Google also support and use h.264. (No target either side.) Google's opennes means "Everyone is inclusive" remember!

iPhone OS - Android OS
Google bought Android INC in 2005.. Did no one see Android coming? (Google publicly bought Android INC first)

Sensationalistic article is sensational.

Don't forget the title - "Google sets it's sights on Apple", which at first glance suggests that Google wants to buy Apple.

 

[ChazUK]

It's not the taking swipes as the competition. It's the tone and frequency of them. Jobs has a long history of taking swipes at Microsoft, but they're few and far between. By contrast, the incessant Apple commentary at Google IO came off as defensive and petty.

Having a dedicated 4 minute jab at Microsoft is better than slipping a few jibes in at the competition?

Do we have a specific list in what is wrong and right?

Right:
Specific time slating the competition
Homepage changes that commemorate the deaths of certain people.

Wrong:
Slipping jibes into a keynote.
Celebrating various events on the Google homage. http://www.google.com/logos/

Shouldn't it simply be Apple = right, Google = wrong?

 

[zenntench_oni]

Go Google. lol >

seems odd. Google has "oo,le" in its name and Apple has "pp,le" in its name. lol Funny.

 

[Darkroom]

Apple changes their front page when it's truly warranted, not when they want to generate a few cheap headlines by pandering to geeks.

if by "a few cheap headlines" you mean international news, and by "geeks" you mean highly intelligent people who make your world a better place everyday, then i agree.

 

[rococoloco]

Is this an editorial or opinion piece from Macrumours?

Why is this news, it's not being reported from a source, it's not factual, it's reaching and scraping desperately to make a point, why the impetus, why not let Macrumours users come to their own conclusions with out a trail of salacious bread-crumbs...

 

[NSMonkey]

It's not the taking swipes as the competition. It's the tone and frequency of them. Jobs has a long history of taking swipes at Microsoft, but they're few and far between. By contrast, the incessant Apple commentary at Google IO came off as defensive and petty.

Good point. It's also strange to attack the 3rd place mobile platform provider rather than a dominant, monopolistic market leader. It makes the attacker appear strangely obsessed with a specific company rather than generally scrappy and innovative.

 

[ChazUK]

if by "a few cheap headlines" you mean international news, and by "geeks" you mean highly intelligent people who make your world a better place everyday, then i agree.

Come on Darkroom. None of these events are truly warranted until Steve says so.

 

[sjo]

Still seems for the time being that Google is playing catch up

Google already caught up Apple: more Androids are sold each day than Iphones. The Android sales are growing at space that makes Apple unlikely to reach the same sales level even when they finally get 4th gen Iphone to the markets some time next month. So Apple has dropped to fourth largest smartphone platform provider after Nokia, RIM and Google. That was fast.

Android TV looks much more like a business than the Apple TV hobby.

 

[macsmurf]

My feeling is that Apple should go into the search engine business and blow google out of the water. Apple would make a smoking engine! That would really hit google. We're still in the early days of the internet so Apple, get in there! Esp with all the new server farms apple is building...

Apple are the best in the world when it comes to usablity, beautiful devices, GUIs etc.

Apple doesn't really seem focused on stuff "under the hood" and probably never will be. I could name a number of products from Google in this area that are really excellent. For example, I've been very impressed with GWT 2.0 and Guice/Gin. The only great framework product from Apple I can think of is WebKit.

Google search was revolutionary when it came out. It had a unique ability to scale and has been developed further along the years. The GUI has been pretty much the same but underneath is an incredibly sofisticated piece of software.

If Apple made a search engine, it would certainly look great