Just after the deal between Google and YouTube I wrote a short entry on why noone is discussing Google:s very impressive strategy to become the number one player on the whole internet market. It really surprises me is that the same people who blamed Microsoft now seemed completely blinded by the “vision†of Google. Wasn’t this exactly the same scenario Microsoft had to face when they had the same positioning on the PC market? Interesting enough I today read another entry on the same subject which you find here.
Considering Google:s strategy, I think their mission statement soon can be changed to “Google’s mission is to organize, own, and use in whatever way Google see fit the world’s information and make it universally accessible, useful and in as profitable way as possible.†Okay I put this intentionally on the extreme side. However Google has now grown up from this young fresh teenager rebel and now found out they want their own house, and they want it big, they want it all. They seem not to realize that however.
The word ‘own’ is here very interesting as they tend to disrespect copyrights if it doesn’t fit into their strategy. Their moves give a sense that they would like to put all intellectual property right issues as “Google concludes that the copyrights legislation should be interpreted as…†It gives a sense of arrogance which I don’t really see fit nor can understand. From a business perspective, I can understand it. Otherwise it just feels as they are behaving like an obnoxious teenager. Maybe they should listen to the Nobel Prize winner in Peace from the Supreme Court of Iran, who said something like: “You should obey the laws as long as they are there. You can question them and participate in the process to change them, but you should obey them. It is one of the prerequisites of democracy.â€
Copyright issues are hard and delicate, but we still should discuss them in a democratic way!
Personally I don’t want company to make legislation decisions as they certainly shouldn’t. I think Google is pushing it in some aspects. For instance their decisions about China really don’t help them.
Doesn’t that feel and look like the same behavior everyone accused Microsoft about before? I definitely think so. Are they evil? Definitely not. They are as evil as Microsoft were or seemed like before they hired Rob Scoble. They are not angels, nor were Microsoft. On the other hand neither Google nor Microsoft is purely evil. Anyone who has thought so is just fooling themselves. In a way I think Google have too much money, too much success. Google has had a party for so long now that I think they have forgotten where they came from. They have lost touch with reality. They will stay big, but they need to realize that they are a big, huge company as so should everyone else.
I think the most important part is really that more people realize that they are a huge company and acting as such. They are not the cool little startup anymore. They are a huge player at the arena. Maybe they are starting to get too big…