Apple vs. Google vs. Microsoft: One platform will not rule them all

“There are narratives circling the technology industry that are wearing out their welcome. The primary one, and the one where I wish more intelligent voices would prevail, is the narrative that there can only be one winner in this industry,” Ben Bajarin writes for TIME Magazine. “Namely that for Google’s ecosystem to win, Microsoft and Apple must fail. Or that for Microsoft’s ecosystem to win, Apple and Google need to lose. And of course for Apple to win, Google and Microsoft need to lose.”

“As far as I can tell, these narratives are rooted in not only a limited view of the technology industry’s history, but also in a very short-sighted one. It seems as though since Microsoft’s Windows platform dominated much of computing for several decades, it must mean it’s inevitable that this domination repeat itself. It seems the expectation from many is that we are simply waiting to see which platform wins,” Bajarin writes. “More specifically, which platform will dominate computing market share the way Microsoft did in the past. Let me explain why this is not going to happen.”

Read more in the full article here.

10 Comments

  1. Yes, agree that Brands rule, and that Apple has a very strong brand.

    Sorry disagree, there are going to be definite winners; the competition has eroded Rim, Nokia, Motorola, several are at extinction – Apple really changed the landscape for cellular phones.

    Apple, thinks differently, they are not concerned about winning, the customers will decide that. And for most part, they love iPad, iPhone and iMac. Apple has dominated in this field for a good number of years.

    The trouble with copy-cats and legal issues has slowed Apples strong hold, however, its still on-going yet evidently leaning daily in Apples favour.

    For years Pepsi was not allowed to compete against Coke. Pepsi waited and gained a good following. Yet Coke almost eclipses that of Pepsi. Samsung is a huge company when referring to the range of the business it covers. This may be the trouble not the advantage they need.

    1. What part of; ‘Apple vs. Google vs. Microsoft platform’, did you not understand?
      Brands are supported by the platform upon which they operate, ergo brands can loose and even be wiped out.
      Platforms on the other hand can support multiple brands as pointed out in the Android example ergo, platforms are much harder to wipe out.
      Take the case of Linux, it still has a core group of brands still driving it however small that group maybe compared to the other three.

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