Microsoft has lost it’s mind

I think Google's success has caused several minds at MS to snap. Lately, Microsoft shills have been going out of their way to attack Google in particular: According to Steve Ballmer, doubling your employee count is 'insane', and Google has no sources of revenue outside of search and advertising. Thus, by extension, all their other efforts are doomed to fail.

Well, that must be because no-one uses GMail, or Google Maps, or any of the other services offered by google, all of which drive the advertising revenue. That's a simple deduction, and if Ballmer doesn't recognize it, he really has lost it. And boo to the Seattle PI for not pointing it out.

Another MS avenue of attack is at Google's attempt to utilize fair-use provisions in copyright law in order to build a business. Microsoft's approaches to innovation are either:

1. Wait ten years, then copy the competitors, and afterwards claim that they invented everything
2. Buyouts
3. Go to the rights holders, get on knees, and beg

The first approach is what produces 'innovation' such as Windows Vista. The third produces such wonderful products as the Microsoft BrickZune. Given the track record of the Zune, isn't it a wonder that Google would not want to seek the assent of the book publishers?

And today, there's an article on slashdot about how Microsoft is trying to profile Linux users in order to convert them to MS' products. That'll go over well. I can't wait to see the 'Hates Microsoft with a Passon' profile, the 'MSWord ate too much of my work' profile, and the 'They owe us too much money to count' profile.