Stan Beer
Sunday, 30 March 2008 14:45
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The fact is Google and cloud computing were made for each
other. As a result of its quest to organise the world's information,
Google has built both a formidable Web presence and back-end
infrastructure. The company has also put together a pretty impressive
stable of Web-based applications to hang off all that.
And the beauty of Google's position is that its
cloud applications are totally independent of operating systems and Web
access platforms. I can open Gmail, Google Docs and many other Google
applications in any Web browser on any operating system as long as I
have an Internet connection.
In stark contrast, Microsoft, is literally hamstrung by its legacy
desktop businesses. In the words of a colleague quoting an unnamed
Microsoft pal, Redmond could put Office into the cloud tomorrow but
that would devastate its existing business.
Comparing the economics and the accessibility of the existing Microsoft
desktop model to Google's vision of cloud computing provides the answer
as to why Microsoft is prepared to spend more than US$40 billion to buy
Yahoo!
To get up and running on a current generation Windows computer running
the latest desktop applications costs enough to turn a considerable
portion of the world's users into software pirates. In comparison, a
user does not even need a computer with a hard drive to access a free
Google application - an Internet capable device with a keyboard, decent
monitor and a reasonable net connection can do the job. CONTINUED
