New Delhi Times

Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

Microsoft v/s Google with a twist

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Today I had lunch at Microsoft and dinner at Google. I must say when it comes to cafeterias and food, GOOG has left MSFT far behind! Not only is the food free at Google, it actually tastes good. Even better, breakfast, lunch and even dinner is served on the house! And you can box it to go as well. Very cool!

Written by gaurav

June 22nd, 2006 at 2:55 pm

Posted in Microsoft

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish
  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish
  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    BTW, what I meant in the above comment is that many current or ex-microsofties getting impressed with Google in one way or other. Microsoft has become more like Indian govt. office (very bureaucratic) and Google is fresh air for many of their employees.

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    BTW, what I meant in the above comment is that many current or ex-microsofties getting impressed with Google in one way or other. Microsoft has become more like Indian govt. office (very bureaucratic) and Google is fresh air for many of their employees.

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    That is not a fair comparision. People dont (or at least shouldn’t!) prefer one workplace over another only because it offers free food. :) Comparing Microsoft to an Indian govt. office is unfair as well. Microsoft continues to remain hugely profitable and a leader in several market segments. Indian govt. ventures are often hugely loss making and lag behind inspite of having several advantages. Indian railways seems to be a recent exception though!!!

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    That is not a fair comparision. People dont (or at least shouldn’t!) prefer one workplace over another only because it offers free food. :) Comparing Microsoft to an Indian govt. office is unfair as well. Microsoft continues to remain hugely profitable and a leader in several market segments. Indian govt. ventures are often hugely loss making and lag behind inspite of having several advantages. Indian railways seems to be a recent exception though!!!

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    I only compared with Indian govt. in terms of red tapism. Everywhere else, there is absolutely no comparision. If you talk to any old time Microsoft guy, he will definitely criticize the current day red tapism. Even if I don’t compare it with Google, I can compare (in an albeit fair manner) with the Microsoft of a decade ago. Compared to that the current day Microsoft is akin to Indian govt. when it comes to red tapism. In fact, some of my friends in Microsoft left for Google due to this same fact. Well, this red tapism is unavoidable when you grow to become a 60k+ employee company but it will also be the reason for the company’s failure. They have gone with Ozzie now. He is a guy for small teams. I hope he does something to trim MS and make it competitive with Google. Their market leadership will evaporate when Web 2.0 comes to main street. Unless they shift gears and become innovative, Google will go without competition and it will lead to another Microsoft brewing in the name of Google. I am critical of Microsoft. I agree on this. But many guys in Microsoft feel this way too.

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    I only compared with Indian govt. in terms of red tapism. Everywhere else, there is absolutely no comparision. If you talk to any old time Microsoft guy, he will definitely criticize the current day red tapism. Even if I don’t compare it with Google, I can compare (in an albeit fair manner) with the Microsoft of a decade ago. Compared to that the current day Microsoft is akin to Indian govt. when it comes to red tapism. In fact, some of my friends in Microsoft left for Google due to this same fact. Well, this red tapism is unavoidable when you grow to become a 60k+ employee company but it will also be the reason for the company’s failure. They have gone with Ozzie now. He is a guy for small teams. I hope he does something to trim MS and make it competitive with Google. Their market leadership will evaporate when Web 2.0 comes to main street. Unless they shift gears and become innovative, Google will go without competition and it will lead to another Microsoft brewing in the name of Google. I am critical of Microsoft. I agree on this. But many guys in Microsoft feel this way too.

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    BTW, we should not forget the loss making products of Microsoft too. They are no different from the Indian govt. The point here is that any bloated organization with monopoly will lead to red tapism and eventual downfall. I think Microsoft is slowly recogonizing this fact and I hope they shift gears and trim down. Else Microsoft will be history in another decade or so.

  • http://www.krishworld.com/politics/ Krish

    BTW, we should not forget the loss making products of Microsoft too. They are no different from the Indian govt. The point here is that any bloated organization with monopoly will lead to red tapism and eventual downfall. I think Microsoft is slowly recogonizing this fact and I hope they shift gears and trim down. Else Microsoft will be history in another decade or so.

  • http://www.twentyonwards.blogs.com Jatin

    give me a call and let me know when exacty u’ll be in seattle, maybe i’ll fly in to meet up with you.

  • http://www.twentyonwards.blogs.com Jatin

    give me a call and let me know when exacty u’ll be in seattle, maybe i’ll fly in to meet up with you.

  • gunjan

    it is a basic law that companies get bigger, their own success becomes their enemy. no matter what you do, it is impossible to fight the creeping forces of hubris, complacency, arrogance, increasing wealth among employees, the attention attracted by being dominant, etc. All of thse forces eat away at the very qualities that made the company successful in the first place – paranoia, drive, HUNGER, ambition, fear of competition, etc. Indeed, it is one of the most remarkable stories that MSFT has been able to succeed at matching or beating younger upstarts in several business cycles. today google’s the flavor of the month, but don’t forget that there were IBM, Lotus, borland, netscape, AOL, sony, SAP, oracle, ….. over the last thirty years. I am not favoring MSFT or GOOG, just commenting that it is an amazing management feat at MSFT that it has managed to fend of these negative forces and remained dominant across at least three distinct business cycles.

  • gunjan

    it is a basic law that companies get bigger, their own success becomes their enemy. no matter what you do, it is impossible to fight the creeping forces of hubris, complacency, arrogance, increasing wealth among employees, the attention attracted by being dominant, etc. All of thse forces eat away at the very qualities that made the company successful in the first place – paranoia, drive, HUNGER, ambition, fear of competition, etc. Indeed, it is one of the most remarkable stories that MSFT has been able to succeed at matching or beating younger upstarts in several business cycles. today google’s the flavor of the month, but don’t forget that there were IBM, Lotus, borland, netscape, AOL, sony, SAP, oracle, ….. over the last thirty years. I am not favoring MSFT or GOOG, just commenting that it is an amazing management feat at MSFT that it has managed to fend of these negative forces and remained dominant across at least three distinct business cycles.

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    I agree completely. Microsoft is definitely lagging behind right now but they have a track record of coming from behind and taking the lead. Lets see if they can pull it off yet again!

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    I agree completely. Microsoft is definitely lagging behind right now but they have a track record of coming from behind and taking the lead. Lets see if they can pull it off yet again!

  • http://www.microsoftindia.in NITIN JINDAL

    I love Google because google is not Microsoft. In india everywork can be done by money and even some misisters are uneducated. that is why there is no protection of indians in regard of technology. I dislike the domain policy. in regars of trademark registration.
    i THINK WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (an administrative unit of the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland) is getting donation/under table income from top companies who wants to **** everyone. i think domain name should not ban even they contains trademarks. suppose the first company has trademark “ass” or “asses” who deals in asses. and the second company has the name “lass” or “lassess” …and third company has the name “class” or “classes” ..as so on…then who is the cheater? according to WIPO (supreme court of domain world) second and the third company is cheater !! because they are using first company name “ass” or “asses” …very funny…if my house number is 13 then im the owner of Intellectual Property having house no 13.. right ! so my neighbour having house no. 11,12 or 14,15 (or anyother number) are using my name or similer to my number? i can sue them !! ha ha ha..microsft has kicked a indian having domain name http://www.microsoftindia.com ..what a shame for indians..we can’t use our country name in domains…USA ko problem kyo hote hai ???

  • http://www.microsoftindia.in NITIN JINDAL

    I love Google because google is not Microsoft. In india everywork can be done by money and even some misisters are uneducated. that is why there is no protection of indians in regard of technology. I dislike the domain policy. in regars of trademark registration.
    i THINK WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (an administrative unit of the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland) is getting donation/under table income from top companies who wants to **** everyone. i think domain name should not ban even they contains trademarks. suppose the first company has trademark “ass” or “asses” who deals in asses. and the second company has the name “lass” or “lassess” …and third company has the name “class” or “classes” ..as so on…then who is the cheater? according to WIPO (supreme court of domain world) second and the third company is cheater !! because they are using first company name “ass” or “asses” …very funny…if my house number is 13 then im the owner of Intellectual Property having house no 13.. right ! so my neighbour having house no. 11,12 or 14,15 (or anyother number) are using my name or similer to my number? i can sue them !! ha ha ha..microsft has kicked a indian having domain name http://www.microsoftindia.com ..what a shame for indians..we can’t use our country name in domains…USA ko problem kyo hote hai ???

  • vamsi

    fuck

  • vamsi

    fuck

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