Why Google is more evil than Microsoft

Still think that Microsoft is bad, and Google good? Think again.

Among many of the tech cognoscenti, Microsoft has been portrayed much like the evil Galactic Empire in Star Wars: a tyrannical regime bent on conquering the universe for its own nefarious ends.

Today, Google resembles no company so much as it does Microsoft in its global ambitions, its clear-eyed focus on the bottom line and - for the first time - a host of critics who fear that the company's reach has grown too long, its grip on the market too strong.

[Captain Tuttle]

I don't think you have to wait 4 years though.

[butbutbuttehcell]

I don't think that any of these companies are evil. I think people confuse ruthlessness that leads to success and growth with evil. The only 'crime' they seem to commit is that they're huge and successful. Have they murdered or pilfered?

[Tony P]

@theKiller: I recommend the decaf.

Anyway, I trusted Google as much as I trust MS before this article. They show signs of that same brand of megalomania that comes with running a profitable corporation. However, I guess I've come to expect the same from anyone concerned only with how many zeros they can add to their last name.

Still...Google makes and supports some good software so they get my benefit of the doubt until they go fully into the dark side.

[Pekka]

theKiller: Do you honestly believe Google secures your privacy better than MS? Everything you seek with Google is saved in Google's servers and they know every seek you have done with Google in last few months. They don't even need to hack your computer to get that information because you have already given information them. The same applies to documents made with Google Apps. Every document you do with them is in their servers and very easy for FBI to check.

Now, you complain that MS doesn't make free OS's. If OS would be free and wouldn't have ads, nobody would be paid to program OS either. Basically it would be voluntary work then. Sure, you could also get money from some other products but you would have to raise price of those. It is completely impossible for a commercial company to make only free programs and survive. Google gets their money from advertising.

[ArmrdChaos]

Power corrupts...and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Google, MS, Apple, Sony...all corps with all the same ambitions.

I leave it to the cheerleaders to whine and debate about it.

[Foxgod]

people who find big corporations evil are the same people who think governments are evil.

We call those people anarchists.
They believe in a free society not bound by laws.
Personally i think anarchists are mad, without laws, it would be the right of the strongest, woman would have no right, hardly anybody would get a fair chance anymore, and any weak person would be unable to survive.

I spit on anarchists.

[goldene355]

Capitalists support large corporations while at the same time disliking government.

[Dareaver1]

because they want the government to stay out of their business so that they can do whatever they want, no matter how unethical.

Take these banks for instance. Did you know that the CEO's are getting bonuses. Now why give bonuses if your bank is failing and you need the help of the American people to bail you out. I mean, if we (the people) were filing for bankruptcy, how helpful would they be to us...? I know, there is a difference, because I'm one person and the affect i have on overall society is minuscule.

But a CEO, with multi-million dollar salary, is taking bonus money supplied by his secretary who might not even crack $20k a year. Isn't that kind of sad.

Money is a man-made commodity, we put value to rocks and metals. And it's a shame how people values those inanimate objects more then human life. It really is sick.

Same goes for Healthcare, people scream socialism (which most don't even know what it is) when we talk about healthcare for all, but don't realize that their police, fire department, and post office already work off of that kind of system. Could you imagine if the police was a business. You would call 911 and then have to agree to a deductible for them coming out to help you.... Lol

How could you put a business on helping others, it makes no sense. It's not like most of society goes out and tries to get sick, but you have to pay someone to help you. And the funny thing is, they have shareholders to keep happy, so wouldn't it make more sense to want more sick people. so the doctors could get paid.

.... whatever, i could go on forever about this, sorry for getting off topic.... I just don't get it (Humanity).....

[The-Director]

Google is seen as a good force by webmasters because Google bring them most of their traffic and income, and we all know that webmasters very much control the feel of the internet, that why you don't hear a lot of complaints about Google dominance.

So when Google grow big and make more money, so are the little webmasters with their little blogs and forums, where Microsoft only make money for themselves and other affiliated big companies, that why we didn't see much love from the internet toward Microsoft.

The point is, Google is good for us NOW, but the future looks scary specially when the management changes "and they will", then god knows what will happen.

[ChozenWoan]

Microsoft

Yep, the company who has been sued the most, who has bullied anything resembling competition, and is the top name mentioned with antitrust lawsuits. They will be the first to sue Google to try to open a wedge for MS to get a deeper foothold into another market.

I'm also pretty sure it's MS who is behind any critics of Googles influence. Especially since Google has taken the top position as a major influence in online interactivity. This is just what MS was afraid that Netscape was going to do. lol

[Gun_Senshi]

MS Got where they are by stealing and buying out technology.

Google creates their own technology

[Lich120]

Thats a good point, and a funny side note, at Microsoft when they search their MSDN library they use Google.

[Random404]

Except they bought google voice (grandcentral), parts of picassa, youtube, doubleclick and based chrome on webkit. Here is a list of their acquisitions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Not sure what you were thinking, by saying that. Take off the google goggles.

One of the things interesting that google does is invest in alternative energies. They even partially run their data centers off of solar which is pretty cool in my book.

Collecting information from my searches, e-mail, documents, gps cordinates, phone calls, and selling it not so cool and a little scary.

[Godmars290]

Google's true test is soing to be what they plan to do once they acquire solid influence and market share. Right now you can compare them to a drug pusher offer free tastes of their product.

Where as MS is long established and organized dealer. Cutting his junk down to nothing while raising prices and strong arming anyone who even comes close to his territory.

[Eiffel]

I love how people refer to companies as if they are one person out of the thousand something people that work for both companies. I highly doubt either are evil. Can you really picture either one that works for the other in the business to be just as cold as the steps their company takes? Whatever step a company takes does not mean that everyone within it will agree to it.

If that was false we would not have strikes.

[xaviertooth]

microsoft is no evil, they are garbage! read: GARBAGE!

[mrdxpr2]

Soo true everything they do is garbage

[Jdoki]

The King is dead, long live the King?

MS took on IBM and won, Google is taking on MS and is winning (in some areas).

The difficulty in pursuing the anti-trust line against Google is that it's a bit harder to pin them down.

MS created Windows. From that platform they could leverage their products in to the Windows experience (Internet Explorer, desktop search, media player etc etc). Also they can control how 'open' they make their OS/API's to competitors. Through determination and smart business moves they ended up having a monopoly - people always want to stamp their feet and cry 'no fair' when there's one big company on the block. Certainly some of it's tactics were agressive, but this is business.

Google is OS independant, and none of their products are currently leveraged in - for example, I can use Google Docs, but go elsewhere for Email and Calendar and RSS feeds. Advertising is their weak point as they do make choice difficult. But by the time Google ever get hit for monopolising advertising, they'll have evolved their business model enough to be able to sidestep it.

Any cases against Google (and there WILL be many) will not drag on like the MS anti-trust debacles. Just because Google were smart enough to realise that they couldn't fight MS on it's own turf (Windows) and decided to move the battle to the web - they shouldn't be punished.

What we need is politicians to work with Google (and MS etc) to avoid situations where the only winners are the lawyers.

[BIGELLOW]

...has confused the word "evil" with "powerful." It would seem that the author believes that anything which is powerful, popular, or widely in use is, by default, evil. It seems to me the real "evil" is the total disregard for grammar, confusing one set of terms with an entirely different set of terms, complicating the communication of future generations.

Maybe one day we'll all talk about "toast" when we really mean "orange juice"... or we'll talk about "freedom" when we really mean "privacy"... and we'll talk about "play" when we really mean "work."

Well, in any case, I need little freedom as I am about to head into the shower. After this, I will drink my toast and will head off to play.

[Godmars290]

Innovate themselves and the indusrty instead of stifling everyone while trying to push out rushed cloned products, I don't have a problem with them.

[kewlkat007]

that goes for the Walmarts, MCDs and Microsofts of the world...

There is a price you pay when you up there. Everyone wanna cut you down..

Google has a monopoly on what they do but many turn a blinds eye...

To me, they are all the same...the bottom line will always be money, when your dealing with investors and shareholders. So at whatever cost.

[Cajun Chicken]

Don't agree, Google have more things that are free for the public. MS made what I'm pretty sure was the first charged GUI Operating System. But I guess that was IBM's fault for not making one.

[Mercenarry]

At least when im using google it doesn't rrod. lol j/k

[Jonathan17strife]

I absolutely love Google, regardless if it has monopolized internet advertising. Though I hate monopoly, I still really like Google.