In business there is often the need to analyze and over-analyze competition in the market place. This need for comparison often creates the need to manufacture strategic battles between titanic foes like Microsoft and Apple or Coke and Pepsi. Today's new digital age is no different, so the social media, browser, operating system, digital deals wars are now upon us. A flood of social technologies have dominated market headlines and have become the darlings of both private and public investors. However, these hyper-growth companies have huge questions to answer as they navigate through the infancy of a new digital media age and take aim at incumbent technology leaders and each other. Unless you have been in a cave, you probably didn't miss the very public twitter, blog, and media battles between MSFT and Google legal councils over patent bullying. Or how could you forget facebook's Mean Girls move of trying to sully Google's reputation by using slimy PR tactics. And now Google fanboys and their constant complaining of Android this and Apple is that... Finally, does facebook really have to act like a crazed Ron Burgundy that is being threatened by the arrival of Veronica Corningstone because Google has finally put together a successful social product they didn't acquire.
Now in the immortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along!"
Now in the immortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along!"
But while we all grab a bowl of popcorn and watch as the claws, brass knuckles, machetes, mace, and handguns continue to fly out maybe some common diplomacy should enter the discussions. Yes, these massive conglomerates are competing for billions if not trillions in future profit, but does the land of software and the internets have to be a battlefield? Software and purely web based products have a very unique property that no other good or service has in its arsenal. Software is a good that once produced has the potential for near infinite returns... meaning that it has a nearly infinite thresh hold against diminishing returns otherwise known as "increasing returns to scale." It is easy to store, has little maintenance cost when compared to physical goods, and allows for faster viral adoption because it is easily shared. By those means shouldn't there be room for Oligopoly instead of Google having to grab a monocle, top hat, and cane and make like Mr. Monopoly?
The point is that in the brave new digital world new markets and new market opportunities are created almost every second. Barriers to entry are falling and falling fast. So Google, Groupon, facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Zynga, etc... don't be surprised when a newbie product comes knocking at your front door threatening to take your market share because maybe, just maybe you are counting your market share the wrong way. With software, because it has the unique property of being a digital good, I can have 5 web browsers running on my machine or mobile device because it doesn't matter to me anymore. Why can't I be a lover of Opera, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and yes, even Internet Explorer? It costs me nothing to download them, install them, and managing between browsers has become easier than ever. The same with social networks. I have an account on just about everything I get my hands on. LinkedIn meets my needs in one area, Google+ meets my needs in others, and I still post and check my facebook page.
Just like cable and satellite television, why can't we have thousands of unique options? And that should be the point. Companies like facebook and Google should strive to capture share of TIME not user share. If they stop spending on resources to fight and bicker in court and the press, they would have more time and money to spend on creating useful features to capture my TIME. That will be the battle of the future, so video game companies, cable providers, retailers, web companies and the like beware. Share of wallet is what will pay for the web of the future, but share of time is where the real battle will take place. The companies that ignore the hype and fight battles with innovation rather than lawyers will win the day. So don't put out the competitive fire, just refocus it on what matters, engaging and powerful user experiences.
-K
The point is that in the brave new digital world new markets and new market opportunities are created almost every second. Barriers to entry are falling and falling fast. So Google, Groupon, facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Zynga, etc... don't be surprised when a newbie product comes knocking at your front door threatening to take your market share because maybe, just maybe you are counting your market share the wrong way. With software, because it has the unique property of being a digital good, I can have 5 web browsers running on my machine or mobile device because it doesn't matter to me anymore. Why can't I be a lover of Opera, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and yes, even Internet Explorer? It costs me nothing to download them, install them, and managing between browsers has become easier than ever. The same with social networks. I have an account on just about everything I get my hands on. LinkedIn meets my needs in one area, Google+ meets my needs in others, and I still post and check my facebook page.
Just like cable and satellite television, why can't we have thousands of unique options? And that should be the point. Companies like facebook and Google should strive to capture share of TIME not user share. If they stop spending on resources to fight and bicker in court and the press, they would have more time and money to spend on creating useful features to capture my TIME. That will be the battle of the future, so video game companies, cable providers, retailers, web companies and the like beware. Share of wallet is what will pay for the web of the future, but share of time is where the real battle will take place. The companies that ignore the hype and fight battles with innovation rather than lawyers will win the day. So don't put out the competitive fire, just refocus it on what matters, engaging and powerful user experiences.
-K
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