The World Needs More Ninjas

Here’s some interesting insights about the business models of Google and Microsoft by Robert X. Cringley.

Here’s the most important key to Google’s success: Most Google advertisers don’t advertise ANYWHERE else. Its mainly small and medium sized companies whose advertisements the average person would NEVER have seen before the Internet. Google is making a ton of money from people who never advertised before. Heck, Google is making a ton of money from people who never were even in business before. This is not only a fundamental change in how advertising is done; it is a fundamental change in how BUSINESS is done.

I’m counting on Google and eBay to save America.

If Microsoft really wanted to compete — if they really wanted (or even knew how) to truly defend their turf, here is what they would do. They would throw away Vista and develop a new operating system, one that is simpler, lighter, and more secure — an OS that would run on any machine now running Windows 2000 or XP. They would price it right, which is to say cheap ($49.95). The associated and trimmed-down version of Office would be priced the same ($49.95). The upgrade market is probably five times bigger than the OEM PC market, so Microsoft needs (but probably doesn’t realize it) an OS that will run well on most of the PC installed base. It needs to set the pricing of the OS so that we’ll run to the store to get it. Instead of designing products exclusively for new equipment, now it’s time for Microsoft to focus on the installed base.

The whole article is worth a read as it points out some perceived flaws in Apple, IBM, and Google’s business models as well. It will be interesting to see if a small, minimal function operating system garners a critical mass of users in the near future if the thin client model of Web 2.0 is indeed the way of the future.