Network Effect

Microsoft's Bid for Yahoo: My Signal To Finally Buy Google

If 90+% of operating systems are MSFT, how do you propose Google will generate enough critical mass to overcome the massive value of interoperability generated by MSFT's network of users? MSFT has been generating inferior technology for years. The value does not lie in the technology. The value lies in the network. Since MSFT owns the current network, converting them to an online service will be relatively easy, just like every past upgrade to the operating system. Google doesn't have a network, and they will be competing against one of the largest networks in the world. Google Apps may be a superior technology, and Google may be a great company, but they'll just be in a long line of superior technologies to MSFT and MSFT will continue to win because they own the network. Just look at Google Base and Google Wallet. They are also potentially superior technology to eBay and PayPal. However, they are trying to compete against an established network with massive inter-operability. And how are Google Base and Google Wallet doing? Again, the value is in the network, not the technology.