Microsoft vs. Google vs. Apple

Interesting session this morning comparing Microsoft, Google and Apple on their philosophy and approach to business.

The thoughts reproduced below are entirely that of the presenters and not my own. I wanted to present an unadulterated version of their version. When colored with my commentary, I indicated it as such.

If you were to hear the presentation live, one gets the perception that the presenters are trying hard to make the impression that Apple is the company "to be" in today's competitive market.

Nevertheless, the presenters make some interesting comparisons on these three organizations:

First of all, Apple is presented as a vertically integrated high margin hardware provider whose emphasis is more on elegant design rather than low cost.

Google is presented as essentially an advertising company to all the world's people which uses the power of engineering to develop geeky applications with mass following.

Microsoft, on the other hand is presented as a software and platform system developer which has its own ecosystem to help thrive the Microsoft brand.

An interesting comparison that was made between Google and Microsoft in their sustainability models. Google was painted as a cowboy who believes in the democratization of information. Google believes in capturing the next 2 billion users and lacks little or no enterprise focus. They are considered as radical innovators who deny anyone the opportunity to control their destiny.

Microsoft was painted as a steady entity that believes in the democratization of technology. On the other hand, Microsoft has a strategy of an orderly enterprise growth which defines and develops programming platforms. Microsoft is persistent who is no longer the innovator but believes in leap-frogging and making better the innovations of others.

More on this later….