The brilliant fake Steve Jobs is back with a post about why no one needs to care less about the announcement of Google’s browser OS. Hugely entertaining read but with some thought provoking points.
Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
- One of the things that makes these posts worth reading is that he usually has some intelligent things to say about the subject he covers. This one is no exception.
- The other is the comments from such industry luminaries as Vladimir Putin, Sarah Palin, Ronald Reagan, Linus Torvalds, Bill Gates and Al Gore. Rare to see real humour in blog comments.
The flip side of the argument is that Google is targeting Microsoft’s Window’s Client business represents $10 billion of annual income, over half of Microsoft’s total as this Business Insider chart shows. (Be aware that if you click on the link, you may be sent to a screen with an advert overlaying the chart that opens a link to the advertiser and when you click on the ‘close’ button, it opens another version of the advert).
Windows Operating System Income
Google hasn’t actually launched anything yet, and will not until the second half of 2010.
I think the timing of this announcement is actually more important than the announcement itself. It means Google has started to behave like an incumbent in the industry, preannouncing things years before they happen, rather than what it did in the good old days when it was an exciting, innovative business that put early versions of things up on Google Labs to see what happened. RIP innovation. Hello unnovation.