1) Compare the business models
and areas of strength of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
APPLE : It
has the basis of creating a very strong hardware base for the internet future
and thus logically they play their role in this battle by laying emphasis on
the hardware that facilitates mobile computing. Apple has gone into the stance
that applications, one of the major earners for tablet and phone manufacturers,
should be device restricted. For example, one application should be unique to
the brand of the device and should be allowed to function in another device
from another separate brand. They even stopped Google in its plans to allow
Google applications to work on Apple products. Thus by doing this Apple is
trying to capitalize on their loyal customer base and create a Apple weds Apple
scenario.
GOOGLE : Google
is the believer in the concept that in the future the devices used to run the
applications and other internet options should be a fraction of what they are
being charged now and instead the revenues generated should be from the in-app
advertisements. Google even bought AdMob, an application advertisements
development company, to work on such a concept. This future, Google and
Microsoft have tried their hand at going hardware friendly but they still do
not put the same emphasis on the hardware as Apple.
MICROSOFT
: Microsoft has laid its bet on the operating system on which the mobile
computing devices shall run. Microsoft also has announced plans to develop the
hardware for mobile computing, something it has not done so far, and thus has
entered into the field of both Google and Apple. By integrating the hardware
and software deal Microsoft has actually change the dynamics of the whole
market. And this can be problem some for Google and Apple as they shall have to
change their own perspective and outlook towards the level of competition that
they shall have to face in the coming years in mobile computing.
2) Why is mobile computing so
important to these three firms? Evaluate the mobile platform offerings of each
firm.
Mobile computing is basically doing
the activities which involve internet without being fixed to a particular
place. The importance of mobile computing for all the three mentioned firms
which is Apple , Google and Microsoft as it is the future of the internet
technology and for these firms to flourish and expand they need to be
very effective with mobile computing.
APPLE: The mobile
platform that Apple provides with its products is “iOS” (Kevin K, 2012). This
mobile platform is the closed platform that is it is applicable for apple
products and only apple apps could work on this. Some of the remarkable
features amongst them are:
- There
is an option over which you can reply later on the calls which you can’t
take immediately.
- Integration
with the facebook over which you can share all you iPhone activities
- There
is a passbook app through which you can use you iPhone as a credit card.
- There
is also an up gradation of the apple maps app which is very impressive.
GOOGLE: The mobile
platform that Google provides is “Android”. This mobile platform is a universal
platform or you can say it’s an open platform when compared to the mobile
platform offered by Apple. The latest version provided by the Android software
is the version 4.1 “jelly bean” (Android, 2012). Some of the notable features
of this version are:
- A
simple screen swipe would provide you with search results related to
Google.
- The
voice recognition tool in this version would rub offline.
- Another
of the new feature is GOOGLE NOW in which the preferences are chosen based
on the data like the time location and personal history and over this the
search results are provided
MICROSOFT: Microsoft is
entering this market recently by launching the tablet named “Surface tablet”.
The mobile platform that Microsoft is offering is the Windows Phone 8(Kevin K,
2012). This operating system will be compatible with the laptops and the
desktops.
Some of the unique features of this
operating system are:
- Support
dual core chips
- Support
multiple screen resolution
- Provides
advanced map technology
- Offers
Passbook wallet.
3) What is the significance of mobile
applications app stores, and closed vs. open app standards to the success or
failure of mobile computing?
Any computer software that performs
specific tasks is called Applications (Bovee 2012, p 256). They can range from
large business computer programs such as “Sun Systems” for processing large
accounting problems to a simple program that can be used to order something as
simple as a pizza, in today’s world applications have become a part and parcel
of the day today.
Today’s mobile and tablet users are
becoming more and more inclined towards a product which has more number of
application than the other product option. Although it can be said that such a
thing has happened because of the fact that the devices today have become so
specified that a certain range of products shall have the same specs regardless
of their make. This change can be determined as a major shift in the consumer
psyche and even the big three have not underestimated this change.
The development of applications and
software’s to match these expectations is a task that all the companies in the
fray to be the leader in the mobile computing market, wither it be Apple,
Google, Microsoft or any other new player, shall have to look into great detail
and precision.
The importance of mobile
applications can be justified on this basis itself that Google has based their
future growth prediction on the very same. Mobile applications have such a
great scope of growth in the future that they can one day eclipse the sales of
the hardware part of mobile computing and form a major market themselves here
players like Google and apple shall have tough competition even from small fray
players if a common platform for application usage is formed, the very same
reason why Apple is resisting Google’s repeated efforts for a common mobile
platform.
According to experts (Kevin, Timothy
et.al) mobile applications are even today a big part of the on the go access
market. Finish mobile giant Nokia too has a say in the application future as it
still has the lion’s share in the applications that are used in its mobile
phones, which in spite of the recent drop are a very big number. Applications
and app stores are also being viewed as a source of major entertainment by many
users of mobile computing devices, with games like angry birds and temple run
taking the market by storm it is very evident that applications and app stores
are a thing for the future.
Lastly it can be said that although
all three firms have great opportunity in the market which is still young and
in its infancy, the first mover shall have very definitive advantage to take
control of this veritable goldmine.
4) Which company and business model
do you think will prevail in this epic struggle? Explain your answer.
If we consider the three business
model that are capable of being the foundation of multibillion-dollar business,
consumer devices, ad-supported consumer services and business software as a
service, Google had just about maximized their potential in the ad-supported
consumer services model and will more likely to achieve success than it’s two
competitors Apple and Microsoft.
Google is the search engine giant
that has a lot of positives going for it rather than the negatives. The clear
positives that can make it a winner are:
- A
well-established name is something which not a lot of players can boast of
but Google is one of them, although Apple and Microsoft have chartered
territories of their own but Google can fight them out both as an equal if
not better.
- The
Company has entered into all the three basic markets of mobile computing
including hardware, operating system and the application stores. Their
hardware is something which a few competitors can best, however the
Android operating system has taken the market by storm and the app store
which comes with it is a mean bully in itself (Android 2012).
- Google
has also bet on of the most time relevant feature of the mobile computing
market, the App store, and this is the biggest advantage which the Google
business model gives it and makes it the prime contender for the number
one position. With hundreds of applications already online and hundreds
more in the development stage Google has started to take a sort of lead on
the other players in the race to be number one. And this may not be
decisive right now but with Google’s recent acquisition of application
developers and their heavy R&D expenditure on the same, it is just a
matter of time before it will take out companies like Apple and Microsoft.
(Android 2012)
Although the Google bandwagon is on
its way there are certain roadblocks that it can face that can halt its march
and some of them are:
- The
Google brand is big but it still lacks the appeal of an Apple product and
this many say is one of the most major difference between the two.
- The
Android system although perfected to a large extent still has a few errors
in the new versions that can hamper the growth of the operating system and
this where a competitor like Microsoft can prevail over the Company
- Lastly
it can be said that Google’s move towards a common mobile application
platform can itself backfire and could increase competition from local app
players which can affect the overall profitability from this step.
Thus it can be said that Google does
have a lot of positives that can help it in the market and if it can take care
of the negatives and maybe tweak the one platform stance, it can just pull
ahead of Apple and Microsoft in this battle of the behemoths.
5) What difference would it make to
a business or an individual consumer if Apple, Google, or Microsoft dominated
the Internet experience? Explain your answer.
A great number of Internet users
today were not raise with computers. Apple, Google and Microsoft are locked in
the battle to dominate the internet and especially the fastest-growing part of
it – mobile. All three have fought each other in previous wars, and now they
want to dominate search technology, cloud computing, mobile music and the
Smartphone market. Whoever wins will exert a wide ranging control over user
data and access to content, and even how we use and interact with computers.
In consumer part, they would be
forced to buy only one product and use only one service. They would create a
monopoly and the positive would be they would create a standard. This would
affect quality; prices would be as high as possible because they would have no
competition. No competition means nobody could force a monopolist from the
outside to improve products, diversify rang or products and lower price. Right
now it is too early to tell who would dominate the internet experience but it
is good to have competition than just one market leader.
Digital Wars assesses who will be
the victor and what the implications are for business, individuals and society.
It also tell us what to expect from the internet in the future, which company
will ultimately be in the driving seat, and what the implications will be for
us all.
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