In this week's Economist magazine, an article talks about an ongoing technology war between Microsoft, Google and Apple, fighting to dominate the clouding computing market. The premise is that while all three companies have ample resources and niche technology to win, but the final outcome is still too early to tell -- i.e., don't bet your retirement fund in any one of the three companies. :-)
In cloud computing, there are three key elements: data centers, services and hardware periphery. Google clearly has an upper hand in building data centers. But, it's only a matter of time before the others know how to build scalable and efficient data centers. In services, Google again has a lead, but Microsoft and Apple are not too far behind. After a disastrous release of Windows Vista and a slow grasp of web-centric computing, Microsoft recently comes back with a new Windows 7, Live services and Bing search engine, bringing a new battle to Google's own turf. Unlike Google and Microsoft, Apple has always focused on selling the best designed hardware and not software. With the super successful iPhone and iTune store, Apple is the leader in mobile computing. As computing users become ever more mobile and develop an acquired taste for pervasive computing, winning this battle helps Apple to buy more time to develop its data centers and services.
The Economist article also points out other issues that could significantly alter the outcome of the ongoing battle -- antitrust issues, difference in culture and business model among the three companies and the emergence of new players, such as Amazon and Facebook.
The future of cloud computing certainly looks exciting!
Update: Oct. 12, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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