Comments on: Beauty and… the Beast? http://chrismeller.com/2005/05/beauty-and-the-beast/ Because I just don't care... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:23:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0-alpha hourly 1 By: BillR http://chrismeller.com/2005/05/beauty-and-the-beast/comment-page-1/#comment-61 BillR Sun, 22 May 2005 13:59:36 +0000 http://chrismeller.com/?p=102#comment-61 I've heard a lot of stuff by google insiders that "the hype isn't real". Sure, they have computers in the bathroom stalls (uhh, do you really want to touch those keyboards?) and dry cleaning service, food on campus and all that good stuff, but a lot of it is so you don't have to leave.... uhhh, as in stay at work 11 hours a day. I've hung out at microsoft and it has to be on of the coolest places you'd want to work - sure, they have a bad image in many regards,but a LOT of it is playa hating. Not all by any means - but a lot. Google will be there too as they kick some more little guy a33. I’ve heard a lot of stuff by google insiders that “the hype isn’t real”. Sure, they have computers in the bathroom stalls (uhh, do you really want to touch those keyboards?) and dry cleaning service, food on campus and all that good stuff, but a lot of it is so you don’t have to leave…. uhhh, as in stay at work 11 hours a day. I’ve hung out at microsoft and it has to be on of the coolest places you’d want to work – sure, they have a bad image in many regards,but a LOT of it is playa hating. Not all by any means – but a lot. Google will be there too as they kick some more little guy a33.

]]> By: mark http://chrismeller.com/2005/05/beauty-and-the-beast/comment-page-1/#comment-59 mark Sat, 21 May 2005 12:56:03 +0000 http://chrismeller.com/?p=102#comment-59 Hi Chris - The main difference is that Google has done a fantastic job with the marketing of their "do no evil" mantra. However, at the core, there is little difference between Google and Microsoft. First and foremost, there is no "do evil for maximum profit" mantra at Microsoft. As a matter of fact, product design decisions at Microsoft hold the user in the highest regard. And at the end of the day, "evil" is a subjective term anyways. For the record: "Evil," says Google CEO Eric Schmidt, "is what Sergey says is evil." (<a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/google.html" rel="nofollow">from wired</a>) Did the fact that 5/6 of the population can't tell the difference between an ad and a search result spur any changes at Google? Not that I can tell. Designing your product so that people think ads are search results? Can you give me a definition of "evil" please? Next, the same types of people work at both companies. These are people who look to further technology to improve user experiences. Don't forget that there is now a pretty decent sized migration from Microsoft to Google. Why? Because the companies have the same core of technical innovation and the perception is that Google is innovating faster. That draws the exact same people to both companies. Finally, at the end of the day, the reason Microsoft is seen as evil is because they leveraged their monopoly to crush their competitors. We'll see if Google does the same. Now that Google is public, I think they'd be hard pressed NOT to leverage their upper hand. After all, they've got shareholders to answer to too. Hi Chris – The main difference is that Google has done a fantastic job with the marketing of their “do no evil” mantra. However, at the core, there is little difference between Google and Microsoft.

First and foremost, there is no “do evil for maximum profit” mantra at Microsoft. As a matter of fact, product design decisions at Microsoft hold the user in the highest regard. And at the end of the day, “evil” is a subjective term anyways. For the record: “Evil,” says Google CEO Eric Schmidt, “is what Sergey says is evil.” (from wired)

Did the fact that 5/6 of the population can’t tell the difference between an ad and a search result spur any changes at Google? Not that I can tell. Designing your product so that people think ads are search results? Can you give me a definition of “evil” please?

Next, the same types of people work at both companies. These are people who look to further technology to improve user experiences. Don’t forget that there is now a pretty decent sized migration from Microsoft to Google. Why? Because the companies have the same core of technical innovation and the perception is that Google is innovating faster. That draws the exact same people to both companies.

Finally, at the end of the day, the reason Microsoft is seen as evil is because they leveraged their monopoly to crush their competitors. We’ll see if Google does the same. Now that Google is public, I think they’d be hard pressed NOT to leverage their upper hand. After all, they’ve got shareholders to answer to too.

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