Google, Google, and there is no trouble as long as "Don't Be Evil"

When it comes to technology, I must confess that I am not a gadget man. For example, I only discovered how to use internet in 1998 and bought my first laptop in 2000. Before that, information was extremely difficult to obtain and I, as a student at that time, could only obtain knowledge by spending time in library or money to get books.

However, it was only upon the launch of Google, my world had been changed completely. Simply by putting key words in its search engine, I could findmajor websites that matched the words, andy pace and depth of research and knowledge of learning leaped. Nowadays, I still rely on Google to search, to find directions, to translate, to share documents and to write my blog! It has certainly penetrated my life and become one of my necessities.

In my opinion, the most important functions of Google are 1) Search Engine, 2) Google Earth/Map, and 3) Google Wave!!!!

The search engine: Need I say more? Although Google has been critised for invasion of privacy and copyright, it is probably the most important invention in the internet industry and has revolutionised our mindset and chaned the way we view the world. Just by "Googling" it, one can find almost every relevant information that is available from the net. I cannot imagine my life without it.

Google Earth/Map: "Everywhere I go, I'll be watching it". Before arriving Madrid, I had already known where I would stay and how I could walk from my hotel to IE. By using street view, I am extremely confident to walk around the town and know exactly which building would appear when I reach my destination. Furthermore, I will also know which restaurant or cafe is nearby.

Google Wave: Wikipedia described that Google wave is "a new web application for real-time communication and collabaration as Google claimed". In another words, it is a platform that combines communication such as email and chat, and work-in-progress such as documents and videos. What an application (to sink Mircosoft Office). Seeing is believing, please refer to the following videos to check it out. For those who are not techs, the second one is easier to understand.






In the end, I just want to express something that I have always felt regretted. "Damn! I should have bought Google's share when it was IPOed." (It went from $85 in 2004 to $700 in 2007)

Microsoft at crossroad

I still remember that my first computer was a 386, which used DOS 4.0 (if I remember correctly), and I used to remember every command in order to run various programs. Afterwards Windows 3.1 became available and looked much more user-friendly and fancier, but I did not use it much as it was more like a compliment for DOS instead of a true operating system. At that moment, I did not quite know where Apple was.

From 1995, as Microsoft released Windows 95, I had became a loyal user of Windows due to its compatibility and easy to use infrastructure until the shocking Vista came to the market. Suddenly I questioned whether Microsoft was still a market leader or had fallen behind as a market follower. Ironically, thanks to the failure of Vista, Apple's Powerbook that boosted internet security, stability and better graphic performance started to attract attention and gain more market share.

So WHERE IS MICROSOFT STANDING NOW?

In my opinion, Microsoft may still be the market leader in terms of the market share. Companies and organisations still use Windows as it is preloaded with the purchase of computers, and most of programs are only compatible with Windows, not Mac. For example, Mac's iWork or office for Mac cannot install various add-on for Excel, which may be a pain for engineers or analysts. Various games still rely on Windows, although more and more games have been put online.

However, Windows is continuously criticised for its internet security problem (every PC needs an anti-virus program) and imitating Apple's OS. The list can go on and on.

In sum, I think the company is at the crossroad. In terms of operating system, Microsoft is not as innovative and attractive as before when comparing to Apple. Microsoft doesn't only need to compete with Apple, but also face the new threat of Google Chrome. The company definitely needs more attention on developing a program that can at least match Apple's OS and understanding customers' need. At the end, I just wanna confess that I switched from Mac back to PC due to its better compatibility and stability; Windows 7 has improved a lot and I feel satisfied so far.

Four Square = 16?

I am a powerful (addicted) facebook user but, only after arriving Madrid, I have noticed one interesting phenomenon - lots of my tech-classmates have been checking-in at various bars, restaurants or even in gyms or IE Business School. Only until being mentioned in my IS class, FourSquare has entered my life.

What is FourSquare

FourSquare is a program for smartphone that changed the mindset from thinking “What are you doing?” and “Where are you?” to “Where are you and doing What”.

The rules of the game:

1) Users check-in at venues such as restaurants, gyms, schools or even at their own home.

2) the most visited user at a specific venue becomes mayor and may be eligible to collect badges or enjoy benefit or promotion such as free beer or meal. So in order to collect those badges and points for becoming a major, users need to return to the venues regularly and, therefore, provide sales revenue for those venues.

How does FourSquare derive its revenue:

Although FourSquare is not making a big revenue, its outlook appears to be very bright. According to a comment from businessinsider.com: Foursquare is starting to build the foundation of a revenue model on location-based marketing services. Foursquare is planning paid services for three tiers of businesses: small, privately owned stores and restaurants; brands with retail chains, such as Tasti D-Lite; and huge multinational marketers such as Pepsi. For bigger brands, Foursquare is developing an analytics dashboard so businesses can track who's coming into their stores. Then, deals could be sold against impressions such as web ads, clicks such as search ads, or a completely new model: cost per check-in.

Therefore, it would not be a surprise if FourSquare is going to be acquired by other giants such as Yahoo or Microsoft in the future.

Final Concerns:

Despite being a neat program, there are also concerns for FourSquare. For example: 1) I do not have data plan on my iPhone, immediately FourSquare becomes useless. If there is another program that imitates FourSquare but without using data, FourSquare might be threatened. 2) Venues may engage free-riding without paying FourSquare for marketing fees.