Google Stole My Idea, Right After I Thought of It
A month or so ago I ran an item about rumors that Google was building its own browser. Savvy
Redmond Report readers pointed out the story was two years old when I picked it up. But did that stop me from writing about it in my column for the June issue of the print magazine? Heck no!
My advice for Google is to build a browser that helps users organize, save and share their searches -- really a file system for searches. Well, the day I filed the piece, Google announced Co-op, a little notebook that lets you cut and paste searches and share them with friends. This is OK, but it ain't a full-fledged collaborative file system/archive for searches.
Keep an eye out for the June issue of Redmond for my thoughts, and use this link for the skinny on Co-op.
DOJ Dogs Hanging on to Redmond's Hindquarters
The U.S. Department of Justice wants to keep a close eye on Microsoft until at least 2009, two years later than originally planned. The feds are concerned that Redmond isn't doing enough to meet the terms of its antitrust settlement, and surprisingly Microsoft tends to agree. At particular issue is the release of details of key protocols.
If you fell asleep halfway through this item, I won't be offended. It's not the quality of the writing but the subject that put you in that coma. Despite all the years of wrangling, and the billions Microsoft has shelled out in settlement dollars, nothing fundamentally has changed.
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See, I Told You the DOJ Doesn't Matter
Redmond Report reported that Google was complaining that IE7 gave preferential treatment to Microsoft's own MSN search. Smart Redmond Report readers (you're all plenty smart) pointed out that Firefox and other browsers gave Google some pretty sweet placement. The DOJ read and dismissed the Google complaint. Wonder if they read all your letters?
OpenDoc Now Open?
The OpenDocument Format was designed from the start as an open file format that breaks the Microsoft stranglehold on .DOC, .XLS and all the rest. This open format is now more open, such that ISO has approved it as a standard. Microsoft has not committed to supporting this format, which to me makes it ultimately a fringe format.
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.