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* Yahoosoft! *

I never understood the logic behind the idea of a Microsoft and Yahoo! merger. I mean, what does each bring to the table?

Microsoft brings a few cash cows, buckets of cash, and an ailing online service. Yahoo on the other hand, brings over a lot of eyeballs, some cool bits like flickr, delicious, and others, and a lot of duplicated services (WL Mail = Y! Mail, WL Messenger = Y! Messenger, WL Search = Y! Search, WL Maps = Y! Maps, etc). Anyway, it's an interest idea that they could merge, but I'm not sure what it would do to slow down Google. If anything, it'll slow down the newly joined-at-the hip "Yahoosoft!" I mean, let's take two very large bureaucratic companies with overlapping services, mash them together, and watch the ensuing politcal firefight ensue.

Anyway, I hope these two giants will take a good look at why Google is winning. It's certainly not the breadth of services or the even the reliability of them as I've experienced first hand. No, they are winning for two simple reasons:

1) Search: accurate. They've built the better mouse trap
2) Syndication: They allow you to make a few (or quite a few) bucks on your own blog running on your own server that you can do whatever you want with.

That's it folks. Those are the two reasons that Google is winning. Smashing Microsoft and Yahoo together will NOT get you these two things. The only two things that Microsoft, Yahoo, or Yahoosoft (or Microhoo, or Mihoo!, or Moohoo, or...I can go on for days) can do to beat Google are:

1) Search: make it more accurate than Google.
2) Syndication: get off your "walled garden" wall and let people syndicate your ads on their own site with their own servers that they can do whatever they want with. Yahoo figured this out eventually, but it is most likely too late. The other way to do it is to offer more cash than Google is willing pay. That should win you some converts (until Google ups their payout too, of course).

There you have it folks...no fuss, no political war with clashing cultures ensuing. Just a way to really win over Google. The question isn't if they can merge, because we know they can. The questions really are: does it matter? and will it help? The answer is most likely: no.

Big ups to Ars Technica for sparking this rant: Yahoo-Microsoft merger talk resurfaces





05/ 4/07 12:58 permalink discuss

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* Windows Live Mobile Throwdown *

I'm a HUGE fan of Windows Live Mobile and use it religiously (I do have to commute up the god-forsaken hell-hole of a freeway that is the 880 at least a few times a week after all). I'm glad to see that Microsoft finally gets a fair shake, not only in the mapping department, but also in the mobile OS space. Ahem...and I quote:

So which is better? Without a doubt, Microsoft's was the winner.

Even just comparing the mapping and traffic capabilities, this matchup could have been a bit uneven. We were running WLS on a Windows Mobile phone, which gave it a "native-app" feel, because it was a native app. Google Maps on Java ran like Java always does. Painfully


Yee haw! Link




11/30/06 15:24 permalink discuss

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* Windows Live QNA *

I've been tinkering with Windows QNA for some time and I must say it really is a neat service. It's rooted in google answers, but it offers video game style pointage for your efforts rather than cash. I dunno, maybe those points will be good for something in the future?

Windows Live QnA:





08/30/06 16:39 permalink discuss

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* The Filing Cabinet *


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