Google’s main objective is to defend itself against a repetition of its own past: to prevent disruptive technology in the widest sense of the idea to upset its place as The Google. To do so Google relies heavily on two strategies: barrier to entry and acquisition. Barrier to Entry: Raising the Bar Due to Google’s known strength – it’s incredibly cheap super computer power which is incredibly expensive for others to compete with – Google becomes the investment default simply by entering a market, making most or all of the other players look like “also-ran”. When the choice of investment...
Two weeks ago, details emerged about Facebook’s failed attempts over recent weeks to acquire communication service Twitter. As we wrote at the time, Facebook thinks very highly of Twitter and its potential to play a big role as a communication platform in the future. Today, Twitter’s CEO Evan Williams offered some of the first public comments on Facebook’s acquisition attempt. Williams told Claire Cain Miller of the NY Times, “We explored it, as we should. We took it seriously,” Mr. Williams said. “It definitely made sense — the strategy we talked about with them — but it wasn’t the right...
Like many of us, I spend quite a lot of time on the web and come across a staggering number of interesting things. In Clearing The Cache I pull out some of my favorites and share them with you here. In light of the Values of n acquisition, GigaOM wonders Will Twitter Become Your Personal Assistant blah, blah! technology declares Pownce is Dead Friendly Bit says Follow the 10 ground rules, or fail on the web CRM Provider Entellium files chapter 11 Managing Leadership advises on Exploiting Success (via Execupundit) Concentric Hosted IT Solutions and Web Hosting Click here to...
A lot of conversations having been going on since the email announcing that Pownce had been acquired by Six Apart. Of course the real news wasn’t the purchase so much but that the Pownce service was going to be shutdown in two weeks. As irritating as it might seem to have services that users invest time in building up get sold off that is part of the so-called social media user generated content world. It’s all part of the game we play. Someone gets a cutesy idea for some service and slaps the code together after which we come...
In what has been completely overshadowed by the announcement of the upcoming Nokia N97, Nokia announced today that it has completed its offer to acquire Symbian Limited. For those who don’t recall, Nokia announced back in June that it would be gobbling up the 52% of Symbian it did not already own and going open source. In a quick and dirty press release, Nokia stated that it has purchased 99.9% of Symbian shares it did not already own when the original announcement was made. Nokia handsets might take a while to reach market but don’t ever say the Finns...
Jay Adelson, CEO of social news company Digg, has used a BusinessWeek interview to attempt to quash those long-standing acquisition rumors. From what he said, Digg is not for sale. "Now I am pressured to keep costs reasonable and focus more on the top-line revenue, which we really haven't ......
Along with the brand new touch N97, Nokia also unveiled new software at its Nokia World show in Spain today—bringing a free new version of Maps and updated email/IM services. The new Maps 3.0 Beta adds 3D topography and landmarks for 216 cities, high-res satellite photos, improved pedestrian directions and better turn-by-turn support. You can also plan a route online via Nokia's desktop Ovi service and then sync it immediately back to your phone. Anyone using S60 FP2 can download the new Maps beta today—Nokia's acquisition of Navteq is definitely showing its benefits here. The new Messaging upgrade ties in...
