Infonortics have released a new e-publication on Google; The Google Legacy; How Google’s Internet Search is Transforming Application Software (Stephen E. Arnold 2005)
From a preview of the e-book's contents, the 'critical insights' do not look particularly earth shattering. Most of us know that Google runs on a customised Linux framework, that their distributed platform is competitively priced and designed for expansion. All good reading for Google shareholders though, especially when the author notes that, "Google products have the potential to be assembled into a version of MS Office — including word processing — and many other applications". All these factors have led Arnold to believe that, "Google is poised to become the heir to Microsoft".
The material seems to become more interesting when the author, "identifies and explains a series of incremental hardware and software innovations not fully appreciated by Google’s competitors, analysts or users that have given Google its competitive edge".
"The net of these advantages is that Google does not have a search system. Google has a supercomputer that delivers applications. Some of these applications are free for the user; namely, search. Other applications are for Google's 4,000 employees; namely, the programmers who craft applications for the Googleplex and employees who use the formidable number-crunching capabilities of the Googleplex to figure out what users are doing, how to maximize advertising revenue from billions of online clicks in real time, and improve the search experience."
Far from being a 'one trick pony' Arnold paints a rather positive picture of Google having used their time and presumably post-IPO investment to build this base. It is not so much a case of can they roll out more products but when. In the networked environment Google could userp Microsoft by offering users internet-accessed applications over traditional desktop software.
Stephen E. Arnold is an author on future trends in technology, having written six books and over 50 articles appearing in a wide range of media. His last book, The Enterprise Search Report, was a 450-page comprehensive overview of 28 search solution providers and best practices, published online by CMSWatch.com.
The Google Legacy (Infonortics, Tetbury, England; September 2005). Available in online PDF download version only; US$180 / €145; 280 pages (including annexes).
http://www.infonortics.com/publications/google/google-legacy.html
