October 31, 2007
Dog Barking — “Ubiquitous Presence”
I want to follow up on my esteemed colleagues observation; Is Google becoming the Third Pipe? But I wish to also diverge a little bit. I expounded the core of it in a comment:
But here is the threat that Google presents to the entire industry. ‘Presence’, Balmer coined it. I’ll run with that but I am going to put a twist on it — “Ubiquitous Presence”. Once Google has a foothold in the wireless space their scheme is complete.
Well what is it? Why total domination. The ability of a Google consumer to go from PC, to PDA, to cellphone and have access to the same content across all platforms within the limitations of the platform itself. Once they have achieved that capability they have won. No carrier will be able to say ‘no’ so they will pay the piper. Even Microsoft will have to bow to them. (Fact for M$ the time RIGHT NOW is similar to their blindness to the Browser 15 years ago.)
Now think about that for a moment and consider the applications that Google already has:
- Google Search
- Google Maps
- Google Talk
- Google Mail
- Google Reader
- Google Calendar
- Google Docs
With more on the way. They are rapidly becoming the Desktop Experience.
Finally I noted this:
I could very easily see a scenario where Google turns to the whole telecom industry and says — “open your systems. If you don’t we will either buy one of you or displace all of you since we now own a chunk of the 700mhz spectrum. Your choice. Who would like to go first?” At that point the carriers will know they have been had.
Will Google care? Well yes and no. Were Google to end up with a national 700mhz band they may not. But would care that no carrier be left behind for fear of losing the opportunity for pass thru revenue. It is in Google’s interest to see that the Layer 1-4 providers succeed. As it is right now the telecom industry sees Google as the Lamprey attached to the Fish. But by say 2010 that role will be reversed. No transport provider who wishes to survive will do so without Google’s agreement. The Ubiquitous Presence factor will be too great to ignore.
Remember the Eggo Waffle commerical? — “I want my Eggo!!” Well that’s Google, their gameplan and their customer base. Unstoppable.
Comments on Dog Barking — “Ubiquitous Presence” »
admin @ 11:52 am
Maybe Ballmer gets it? The value add is a feature of the internet cloud, not a feature of the pipe - or the OS. The duopoly guys don’t understand this. The are building a bigger pipe to largely enable the delivery of pay for play value add product they control. It’s like watching AOL and Compuserve all over again. By the way, what happened to those companies?
Dr. Dog @ 12:21 pm
Maybe Ballmer does. but I wonder if he understands the full scope and the short timeframe he has to respond? From what I can detect right now M$ has not responded. They have LiveSource, OfficeLive and Sharepoint. But the problem with those systems is that they are still tied to M$ licensed product purchased by the end user. Nor have I seen M$ making any moves into the 3G/4G space.
The Duopoly guys lacking any mindset will see their comeuppance soon enough.
M$ time is nigh….
» WalMart to Offer $199 Desktop PC @ 9:18 am
[…] Yes I am getting to the punchline. Remember I suggested that Google’s game plan was domination? Ubiquitous Presence? Well here is just another leg of it in the PC arena. Google inks a deal with Everex and gOS. The OS has Google Toolbar on it. Everex sells to WalMart as a market busting price. WalMart won’t sell hundreds, they will sell multiple thousands of these puppies. Google’s presence on the PC preinstalled, Google presence on the upcoming gPhone, Google presence on PDA’s. A WalMart customer base hooked on Google network applications that require no maintenance. Google’s viral approach to getting it’s presence anywhere it can is at work. It’s Eggo’s all over again. Note to Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun. Yes the network IS the computer, but it will be Google’s network. Sorry. [?] Share This Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]