Clash of the titans: Apple v/s Google

On Jan 5, Google did a very Apple-like thing. In a presentation at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., the 11-year-old search behemoth unveiled Nexus One- a stylish touchscreen smartphone that runs on the company’sAndroid operating system, is sold through a Google-operated retail Web site, and greets the market with an advertising tagline (“Web meets phone”) as simple and optimistic as the one Apple used in 2007 to introduce its iPhone (“The Internet in your pocket”).

On the same day, Apple did a very Google-like thing. Steve Jobs, the king of splashy product launches and in-house development, announced a strategic acquisition. For $275 million, Apple purchased Quattro Wireless, an upstart advertising company that excels at targeting ads to mobile-phone users based on their behavior.

When companies start to imitate one another, it’s usually either an extreme case of flattery, or war. In the case of Google and Apple, it’s both. Separated by a mere 10 miles in Silicon Valley, the two have been on famously good terms for almost a decade. Apple CEO Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, both 54, spent years in separate battles against Microsoft while Schmidt was at Sun Microsystems (JAVA) and Novell. Over time, they went from spiritual allies to strategic ones.

Tensions in Silicon Valley’s special relationship began to emerge in late 2007, when Google announced plans to develop Android for mobile phones. Apple had unveiled its iPhone in January of that year, and it was clear that the two companies would spar in the smartphone business. Still, both were niche players, with more formidable rivals in companies like Nokia, Samsung, and Research In Motion. Only after software developers began creating thousands of mobile apps, and it became clear that phones would become the computers of the future, did the conflicts begin to grow serious.

Now the companies have entered a new, more adversarial phase. With Nexus One, Google, which had been content to power multiple phonemakers’ devices with Android, enters the hardware game, becoming a direct threat to the iPhone. With its Quattro purchase, Apple aims to create completely new kinds of mobile ads, say three sources familiar with Apple’s thinking. The goal isn’t so much to compete with Google in search as to make search on mobile phones obsolete.

The tech industry has had its share of legendary rivalries: IBM vs Digital Equipment Corp, Microsoft vs Netscape, America Online vs. Yahoo! Apple vs Google could dwarf them all. Both companies are revered by consumers with a passion usually reserved for movie stars and pro athletes. They have multibillion-dollar war chests, visionary founders, and ambitions for smartphones, Web browsers, music, and tablet computers that set them on a collision course.

Some analysts believe the Apple-Google battle is likely to get much rougher in the months ahead. Apple may soon decide to dump Google as the default search engine on its devices, primarily to cut Google off from mobile data that could be used to improve its advertising and Android technology. Apple might cut a deal with—gasp!—Microsoft to make Bing Apple’s engine of choice, or even launch its own search engine.

Whatever happens, it’s clear that Apple and Google are headed for more conflict. Android is a threat to an iPhone business that has quickly come to represent more than 30% of Apple’s sales. Meanwhile, nearly all the growth in search is expected to come from mobile devices. That sets the stage for a new main event in the tech sector. This rivalry is going to accelerate innovation. Apple goes pretty fast, but having someone chasing you always makes you go faster. This is going to be good for consumers.

Still, in a battle over the future of computing, friendship will almost surely be a casualty of progress.

'The' Indian Cricket Fan

Ye India ka cricket hai beedu jeete toh thaat hai par haare...toh waat hai!!

It is often said that India is a cricket crazy country. This is meant as a reference to the passion towards cricket present in the layman of this country. However if one tries to separate himself for a moment from the crowd and take in an unbiased view of the pandemonium, one realises that the word ‘crazy’ in this context deserves to be taken literally! We Indians take cricket as much more than just a sport and the resulting madness often leaves a bad taste in the mouth of every right thinking person.

It is obvious that for someone to win, someone else has to lose at the same time. The law of averages also makes it obvious that any team or individual will not win all their competitions. After all, we have all heard the cliché ‘to err is human’. The thinking of the Indian cricket fan transcends such obvious reasoning. For him watching his team win is a birthright and anyone who is responsible for the denial of this birthright will meet his ire and how!

The recent ugly episode in this context has been the brawl in a westindian bar where Indian cricketers were assaulted by angry cricket fans due to their failure to qualify for the semis of the T20 world cup. One does not need to go long back into history to know that this wasn’t a one-off incident with memories of fans attacking the house of skipper MS Dhoni after the 2007 world cup flashing through the mind. Burning of effigies of cricketers on the road after a big defeat is another common practice.

Fickle-mindedness is another attribute that characterises the Indian cricket fan. Players are turned from idols to villains in no time at all. Sensational victories are forgotten due to recent defeats and then defeats are again forgotten due to victories. Sachin Tendulkar might be the GOD of cricket for them today but only a couple of years ago he was booed off the field by his very own Mumbai crowd in the Wankhede stadium! Needless to say he might be booed again and forced to retire soon if he doesn’t keep up his godly performances. During discussions, several attributes found in a player after a commendable performance disappear instantly after a rough patch and are replaced by talks of flawed technique and questions over commitment and attitude. Talks of Sehwag’s awesome hand-eye coordination when he scores a swashbuckling ton give way to his lack of foot movement the moment he gets caught behind early in the next match. One can’t help but remember the famous add in which Sehwag says-“Ye India ka cricket hai beedu jeete toh thaat hai par haare...toh waat hai!!” So true indeed!

Even though their knowledge of cricket is totally limited to what they see and hear on TV, the fans consider themselves no less experts than professional cricketers and coaches! The enthusiasm while making suggestions is such that it seems the fans themselves would take India singlehandedly to victory if allowed to play for the team. From how Sehwag should play his cover-drive to how Zaheer should grip the ball to who Dhoni should select in the team-these fans know it all! Well, at least they believe they know it all and could teach a thing or two to the national team players and coaches.

Only a true fan realises that his passion for the sport and for his country should be directed towards supporting the team through its rough patches. The role of fans becomes more important when the team is not doing well than when it is on song. For it is then that these players need the support and backing of their countrymen to get back their lost confidence. Instead of this, isn’t it shameful that we assault them and attack their houses? What we need to realise is that people who play for the national team have worked hard to get there. That hard work has been born out of a desire to represent ones country and they take immense pride in it. Hence the commitment of a player while he is representing his country should never be questioned, for nothing hurts these players more than this. We, the fans also need to realise the fact that these cricketers and coaches are professionals and experts in their field. Their knowledge of the technical and strategical aspects of cricket is incomparable to ours and thus we need to be patient and have faith in their decisions instead of going haywire with our own solutions in a distasteful manner like seen in the media these days.

Like all of us cricketers are human beings and thus bound to make mistakes. Turning them into villains and burning their effigies on roads is shameful and shows a basic lack of civic sense among the citizens of this country. Indians are also guilty of portraying a godlike image of a few cricketers. This is harmful in the longer run because at some point of time the cricketer will fail to live upto this image by the virtue of being human. This initially created hype is the reason behind the adverse reaction that one sees after a poor performance.

By the basic nature of being a fan it is important to have expectations from your team, but it is more important to learn to be calm in the case these expectations are not met. I request all Indian cricket fans to learn to take defeat in their stride with their dignity intact and be a ‘real’ pillar of strength behind their team!

PS: Im hoping to start a debate here. So please comment :p