Business Week is running an article, titled Google Steps Into Microsoft’s Office, about Google turning their Google Apps service into a full-fledged office suite, a paid web service. They also have clients, such as Pixar and Disney, who are prepared to ditch Microsoft and move to this more flexible platform.
This news complements an article I saw in a local magazine about a Google OS that may appear in the near future. Maybe as early as 2008. Judging from this, Google has the highest chance of toppling Microsoft from its current position, although considering everything that Google has done so far, this would be substituting one monopoly for another. Evil or no evil.
Steps like this one would initially be quite positive for the end user, giving them more choices and creating healthy competition among the big players. Plus, until now, Google has largely stuck to it’s “Do no evil” motto. But what happens when it’s the largest kid on the block with the power to do whatever it wants? Will it still stay “good” or will it fall victim to the same afflictions that brought Microsoft to its current state?
There is also another thing to consider here. With big companies like Google grabbing the top talent and acquiring any enterprise with some value to it, one has to wonder what the future will be like. Will there be one huge corporation governing everything or will there still be room for the next Google or Yahoo to flourish? Maybe the days of coming up with a new and unique idea and building your very own company around it are long gone.