Michael Janzen

The proof will be in the pudding and price, but from these official Google mockups you might begin to see why I think Apple is going to have trouble making a major impact on the tablet market segment. If Google can keep the price comparable to netbooks they are going to easily be on their way to becoming personal computing hardware and software giant. See and read about this future tablet computer from Google. Image credit to The Chromium Project.

Now hardware builders like Dell are publishing notes for installing Google Chrome on their low cost netbooks. This little puppy runs Ubuntu Linux and while the install is still for geeks I suspect it’s only a matter of time before the open source community creates a installer for newbies. This will be followed by official pre-installed Google Chrome releases from the hardware makers themselves.

The key to all of this is user adoption of course and if Google has really build a no-nonsense operating system and the hardware costs stay low Google will stomp all over Microsoft in the personal computing market segment. Read my first post on Google Chrome to hear how I think Microsoft can survive Google Chrome.

I just watched these two videos produced by Google that demonstrate Google Chrome OS. Basically Google has taken the Pareto principle and applied it to an operating system providing more than 80% of what average users need their computer to do. I suspect Linux, Apple will survive Chrome but Microsoft will need to shift its focus.

• Linux will probably take the smallest hit because most geeks that use Linux will continue to do so and if anything dual boot Chrome. Linux also has the advantage of being an open source community and not a corporation.
• Apple has a diverse collection of strong footings like iTunes, iPhone, iPod, in addition to supplying a hardware/software package that is way ahead of the competition in terms of usability.
• Microsoft will be hit hard by Google Chrome because their Windows foundation will be weakened as common end-users begin to adopt this easy to use option. Apple has already shown that usability is the giant’s Achilles’ heel. Like most giants Microsoft has multiple strong footings like Apple but the demand for Windows will begin to shift away from home users. If Microsoft fails to see this unavoidable truth and doesn’t start to shift resources to their core strengths they are sure to fail.

I realize this is an outlandish prediction but it’s based on a simple idea. When someone (including a corporation) focuses on their core strength they succeed. Google has always seemed to do this extremely well. They are also masters of innovation and seem to still be growing fast and exploring new areas… which could actually be thought of as a core strength in itself.

Microsoft appears to be at a stage in it’s life were some serious change needs to happen. I suspect it’s because they are clinging to past successes instead of embracing the future of open source code and fulfilling user needs. To compete for mass user adoption one must keep up with what users want.

For example… Apple helped move the cellular phone industry ahead in one huge leap forward with the introduction of the iPhone. Google is about to do that to home computers. Those that aren’t well positioned and exercising their own strengths will figure out the hard way that old-school models are a recipe for failure.

From my perspective Microsoft’s core strength is it’s ability to provide enterprise scale solutions. Google tends to scare corporations because of their blackbox systems and unlimited thirst for data. So it makes much more sense to me for Microsoft to move more of its resources to enterprise solutions and away from home users. If they want to compete with Google in the home computing space quickly come up with a revolutionary simple new tool like Google has… otherwise don’t waste any more time in battle with someone who has you beat.