Well known Silicon Valley start-up investor Esther Dyson appeared on Charlie Rose a few days ago to give her reading of the current tech space. It turns out that Dyson is actually more interested in space and biotech these days, but she did offer an interesting comment regarding the social media business. Asked if Facebook is the new Google, Dyson said, “[It is] if you think Google is the next Microsoft.” So, is Google the new Microsoft? Dyson said, “It could well be.” I’m one of Dyson’s biggest fans from way back, so I always find her insights valuable. But in this case, I think she got part of the equation right.
There is no doubt that Google is the new Microsoft. The company's global reach, revenue and cash war chest prove that to anyone paying attention. I also agree with Dyson that what Google really wants to do is make search so highly personalized that the company will be able to “predict” what you want to: find, buy, watch, etc. But due to privacy concerns, Google is waiting for smaller companies to normalize the idea of personalized search and let others bear the initial brunt of privacy concerns highlighted by special interest groups. Where Dyson, in my view, gets it wrong is with Facebook. As one of the Wired team accurately pointed out weeks ago, unless Facebook becomes truly open, it’s really just the latest hot online club until the next one comes along.
Possibly the strangest moment during her appearance came when Rose took the opportunity to tap into Dyson’s mind as a tech consultant and asked how he could use the Web to raise money for his show. Her answer, in short: Put a PayPal donate button on your website. And—bang!—just like that, Rose saved a $50k Web consultant fee.
Source:www.wired.com
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