So I’ve decided I’m thinking too much about what I want to write, and that I should just throw stuff out there as I come arcross it.
I started to use my first Google calendar today. The collaboration of people calendars and events are very interesting. Also interesting is that it will be available offline. I am interested in how that would work, but I am told that it will be similar to Google Reader and its offline capability.
Maybe this is a good time to give you a little history of my computer loyalties. For the past 10 years or so I was a strict pro-M$ superuser. Anything they came up with I ate up and laughed at anyone who didn’t. But for the past year I’ve really started to diversify, and try some of the forbidden iFruit/gFruit. I bought an iPod for one. There, I said it. May Vista strike me down (I am expecting the swift blue screen of death). Oh, and I have a Google account. Hey don’t judge my band-wagon swinging - I can quickly scroll through my aggregated feeds with just the space bar using my Google reader .
Why the sudden switch? I think, like a few of you out there, my trust that Microsoft-knows-best has finally faltered. Their flashy tools and expensive-looking software is bloated and hard to use. I’m screaming for simplicity and M$ just isn’t getting it. I think the monopoly they have is finally not enough to compensate for the fact that they are too widely spread thin. This is a good thing! Software will finally have to bow down to the forces of competition.
I still like Microsoft. I just wish I had an idea what they want to do with the company, other than get into every possible market they can. Unfortunately I think this is an ill-fated strategy for two reasons. For one, Microsoft is not good at controlling or predicting online culture. Facebook and wikipedia are two great examples. Secondly, Microsoft cannot compete with the zealous entrepreneurs of a global economy.
This post has gone off on a bit of a tagent. Maybe what I’m trying to say is that Microsoft is very bad at predicting what people want and that we’ve been buying into it because we really haven’t had the option not too before. The internet will be the death of M$.
