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- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+76"My name is spelled: Napoleon." - Napoleon
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27Don't invade Russia during Winter.
- DJFMA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Is there a reason you left google out of the topic? The articles REAL title is: Napoleonic Lessons for Google & Microsoft
Why does everybody only pick on MS in articles like these? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Yeah, that's nice.
Unfortunately, you've posted a story on Digg, AND you're on the front page, which means you can expect a plethora of comments referring to your inability to spell Napoleon. - UncommonSense, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16The author was using Microsoft's new speech recognition system. Could have been much worse.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Actually, I think about the little dude that got kicked out of Waterloo in San Dimas, CA.
"SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!!" - VAXcat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14 Microsoft has learned from Napoleon that you should never launch an invasion of Russia in the winter.
- billisdog, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18It absolutely sickens me that these days when most perople hear the word Napoleon they think of that movie before they think of the dictator that almost conquered all of Europe.
- johnlewin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Get over yourself. Apparently you know history and are proud. I know partial differential equations and am proud. But it doesnt sicken me that you dont.
- ezrider0, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Google does no evil, and by no evil they mean censoring Chinese content. do no evil? or only do no evil in America? seems a bit hypocritical to me.
- CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Well then they're one step ahead of Hitler, aren't they?
- becominglumberg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9If you don't like wit derived from pop culture, Digg may not be a good choice for your leisure.
Tubes! - yak86, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7the guy doesn't say he's an expert.. he clearly states that he's an "unemployed college undergraduate". he's just trying to blog his thoughts... and now we discuss... not attack
- wallclimber, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9From the Notes at the bottom of the article: "...I will gladly take down any part of this article if anyone at, either company, is disturbed by it."
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I don't understand this part.
Whether I agree with everything that was written, or not, it still was apparent to me that the author took some time and effort to put the article together. I read it through and saw nothing that was libelous or mean-spirited. So, why on Earth would someone work that hard on an article if they are willing to pull any of it down just because one of the subjects of the article didn't like it? To me it's a good way to lose credibility.
Either an author believes in and stands up for what they write, no matter who doesn't like it, or they shouldn't be writing for the public.
I also don't understand the mindset that there always must be one overly-dominant player in any given field. I think there's a lot of room for competition, and personally hope to see a time when Microsoft is just another company working hard to earn its customers. - jawadshuaib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The XBox did lose money. However, it was part of a clever tactic to dismantle their weaker competitors. Microsoft has a war chest of $49 billion in reserves. It can afford to lose a battle to win the war. The strategy has worked over time, considering the price of the upcoming Playstation 3. Who is going to buy PS3? Not me.
Jawad Shuaib (author of the article) - astrotrain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"Bill: You ditched Napoleon.
Ted: Deacon, do you realize you have just stranded one of Europe's greatest leaders in San Dimas.
Deacon Logan: He was a dick."
-Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure - johnlewin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Will microsoft learn what? How to control the market? Check. How to Move into someone elses market? Check. I"m in the valley and study startups all day long. Google still has a lot of weight, but loosing fast. The days of attracting the top engineers are gone (thats facebook, meebo, etc...). Meanwhile their do no evil brand is a joke (ask someone in china, easily the fasted growing search market, what they think about google after G agreed to censor search results in co-op with the chinese gov't, or ask someone in africa what they think of Serge's comment that "'We'll help the poor in africa by flying them to here" after spending 1B that could go to shareholders on a luxury jumbo jet (A billion to, say, aids relief, would have been more warmly recieved).
Google is now just like microsoft: a big, monopolistic coorporation behaving poorly. Eventually thier brand image will reflect that, and when the do, I think they are in trouble. Microsoft is a far tougher cookie when it comes to strategy that this guy and his 'will they ever learn' are aware of. - sahala, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@happyfappy
"Who knew that the enlightened advisors of the future would identify themselves as "jobless undergraduates" who can be reached at "biohazard@gmail.com" and "python_kiss@hotmail.com"?"
Why don't you counter-argue his points instead of saying "haha he's just a college student"? - jawadshuaib, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4hey guys, I am the author of this article. During my hourly visits to this site, I discovered this article up on the front page! Since I am not the one who posted it, you can imagine my surprise.
Back to the point: During a conference Larry Page explained that Google did, in fact, chose not to enter the Chinese market in the past, while their other competitors did. However, the media did not provide any coverage for Google's move, and as a result the only thing that happened was that the company lost market share. By choosing to enter the chinese market, Google is not committing any evil. Google.com will appear uncensored but operate much slower. Whereas the Chinese version of Google will be faster but censored. It is a fair compromise. - OnlyShawn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it pays for now.
- jawadshuaib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wanted to make this article longer, but I think most readers would simply ignore the extra material.
But anyway, Napoleon did have many bad traits, but this article was more about his tactics & strategies than his personal behaviour. Thank you for pointing it out though.
Jawad Shuaib (author of the article) - WhiskerTheMad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Who knew that the enlightened advisors of the future would identify themselves as 'jobless undergraduates' who can be reached at 'biohazard@gmail.com' and 'python_kiss@hotmail.com'?"
Bearing in mind that this jibe is being delivered by a person who chooses to be known as "happyfappy"
You win two irony points for today. - CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5God forbid anything to do with actual history, and not a ***** movie come to mind..
- jawadshuaib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3lol. That is hilarious.
Jawad Shuaib (author of the article) - zephan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I digg it simply because the comparisons between military strategy and business maneuvers.
- jawadshuaib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Unlike popular belief, his height was 5'6, which isn't too small. The reason why this myth exists is because the french recorded his height in different units.
Also, Napoleon was extremely sick during the Battle of Waterloo. As a result, he let his marshalls lead most of the battle against the British and Prussians. Though, personally, I believe he was bound to lose as, over time, he had made more enemies than allies. A lesson Google should learn soon.
Jawad Shuaib (author of the article) - llbbl, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8I hope Google + Open Source drives Msft into the ground! Who is with me??
- thatguy928, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2great article
I especially liked how he was very neutral-both gmail and hotmail, using microsoft word and google. I thought that was pretty funny :) - CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"It absolutely sickens me that these days when most perople hear the word Napoleon they think of that movie before they think of the dictator that almost conquered all of Europe. "
Actually i'd have to agree on that one. That being said half these people don't know their asses from their elbows. - pp7k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think the author makes one really excellent point but misses another:
Microsoft's top-down structure makes it slow and stupid. Once the MBA's take over (and they have) all meaningful innovation stops or slows to a crawl. Google's decentralized structure does indeed make it mobile, which has allowed to keep moving even now that it's become very large.
But the missed point: the author seems to suffer from a common delusion that if Microsoft could somehow act and structure itself more like Google (or like OSS as described in another popular Digg article). This is more than unlikely; it is impossible and illogical. Microsoft does not know how to compete in a heterogeneous environment and has no interest in learning. It is all or none. Please remember that among all Microsoft does, the work of all those tens of thousands of employees, MS makes money from two products: Windows and Office. The margins on these products are dizzying. All it's work is dedicated to keeping these two cash flows alive and growing. I can guarantee you that the major thrust behind Xbox is their fear of too many boxes in consumers' homes not running Windows.
The innovative Microsoft is already dead. The Microsoft you see now consists entirely of businessmen working to squeeze every last buck out of their current dominance. It will not last forever, and their best hope for the future is to transform in the way that IBM has. But IBM is not highly admired, nor likely to take back it's position at the top. It has simply managed to ride it's devalued brand into a comfortable niche.
But I am not a Google worshiper. MS may have the last laugh on that one. Give it time and the institutional rot will set in. Trust me, this happy development environment will not last forever. Sooner or later the MBA's will take this one over too. Don't forget that Google's IPO wasn't long ago. Also, their overreaching (too many new products) says a lot. Any company that grows as quickly as Google will experience great pain when that grow levels off. It takes a lot of planning and insight to survive it intact. Firing out betas every week indicates that they do not get that. Also, Adsense has some under publicized problems to deal with, and as the author states, it's current status as darling of the industry will not last much longer. - DannoHung, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5damnit, I was 60 seconds too slow.
- nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wit? Tubes? Pop culture.... uh, what?
- neocitron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"I also don't understand the mindset that there always must be one overly-dominant player in any given field."
the article talked about this.... read it... his answer is interesting - dimplemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Have you gotten raked over the coal enough because of your inability to spell check or lack of historical knowledge? Just wondering.
- noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Lessons Microsoft can learn from _________"
Fill in the blank. - colemanm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3If you're going to compare the Google vs. Microsoft/everyone else to the Napoleonic Wars, what should be said about all the gargantuan mistakes Napoleon made throughout his reign? Like being a cocky, warmongering, insecure yet sickeningly talented tactician? Where are the Google analogies for those traits? Basically everything I ever see regarding Google only talks about their virtues as a company (which I would agree with, for the most part), I never hear what the downsides are to having these virtues. Namely, not a lot of corporate product development direction... we just see a new random product every week... one week an "Ebay", the next week a calendar, et cetera. And the whole "do no evil" approach couldn't be more opposite Napoleon.
- nxxm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2one thing digg-ers can learn from elementary school: spelling
- Butros, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I don't remember the nazis being defeated by a dancing monkey throwing chairs
- miguel077, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Right on.
- ytrabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe the more appropriate analogy between google and microsofts strategy would be WWII. The way Microsoft seems to do battle is to let the little guys battle it out and then come in after everyone has exhausted themselves and clean up. Sounds like the U.S. in WWI and WWII. I don't want to associate Google with Germany, so I'll let the analogy break down a bit there.
Good job to the author in writing a love letter to M$ relating the two great loves of Bill Gates life. M$ and Napolean. - M4cb0y, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Today, Google has its hands in web search, email, online videos, calendars, news, blogs, desktop search, photo sharing, online payments, social networking, instant messaging, WiFi, word processors, web hosting, web browser, search tool bars, spreadsheets, discussion groups, maps and more."
Google has a browser? Since when? - mb309, on 12/31/2008, -5/+6Napoleon Dynamite actually _could_ have relevance......Bill Gates did that massively unfunny sketch with Heder for the PDC last year.
Go sicken yourself in the corner. - Daveed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"the guy doesn't say he's an expert.. he clearly states that he's an "unemployed college undergraduate". he's just trying to blog his thoughts... and now we discuss... not attack"
- one of the smartest comments here. I was about to attack as well before I read it. I disagreed with many parts of the article, which is composed entirely of opinion and very little fact. But yak86 is right, he's not writing a thesis here, just stating some beliefs in a creative (if a little unpolished) writing style. - nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Picking on MS? Yeah, poor little fella. I'm sure they care. Anyway, I didn't see anything derogatory about Microsoft.
- vikramkr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree. But you know, that is the only way a tech story can get dugg.
- LouBlobbs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I gathered that the article meant that, by comparing Google to Napoleon, Microsoft could learn from the counter-tactics against him.
- LouBlobbs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I hope the open source movement is crushed because the fanboys annoy me.
- szembek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true.
- szembek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"God forbid anything to do with actual history, and not a ***** movie come to mind.."
Sir I am sorry to inform you that you do not have a sense of humor, or you have a poorly developed one at best. - fantasticjon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Not a bad article. A couple points of fact though.
Google is not nearly the most expensive stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) is trading for $92000 a share. they have never had a stock-split.
I really don't think MS gets $100+ for every PC dell sells. Probably more like $40. -
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