The battlefield looks to be set. The young, vigorous commander has come to the field of battle and he’s playing to win. He’s strong, he’s clever and he’s brilliant. He’s also hired brilliant mercenaries, both old and young, to strengthen his fortifications and construct new weapons. He’s red hot and he’s ready to fight but he might be just a bit nave.
The veteran general is also ready to fight. He’s waged many battles and conquered everyone he’s fought with. He’s been strong, clever and brilliant for a long time. The wily leader was considered absolutely unbeatable. But he was the young commander then. Not now. He’s strong but his army has become huge and what many consider as somewhat unwieldy. He’s still incredibly powerful and will do what it takes to win. But he’s nervous.
This battle is being hammered out in code in the battle between Google and Microsoft. A great story on ZDNet discussed the ongoing struggle for Microsoft to right its ship for this upcoming battle with Google. The point they talk about is for years, Microsoft didn’t know what to do with its MSN unit and now it’s becoming the central venue for much of their efforts, providing routes for many of its products, patches and other information.
Much speculation surrounds Google’s recent behavior, particularly the part about them establishing a new broadband, WiFi network at virtually no cost to consumers. They’ve got a few billion to play with on this product and one can bet they could come up with more if need be.
It looks like Microsoft will use MSN to combat that Google initiative. This battle will be huge but it will not happen overnight. Microsoft is still a much larger corporation with deep pockets so they can stay in this fight for a while. But one has to wonder if they will be ready for the siege that’s coming for them.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
