Digital wars : Apple, Google, Microsoft and the battle for the Internet / Charles Arthur.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arthur, Charles, 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Internet industry--United States.

Internet industry.

United States.

Apple Computer, Inc.

Google (Firm).

Microsoft Corporation.

Physical Description:

viii, 335 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; Philadelphia : Kogan Page, 2014.

Summary:

" The first time that Apple, Google and Microsoft found themselves sharing the same digital space was 1998. They were radically different companies that would subsequently fight a series of battles for control of different parts of the digital landscape that would be world-changing. Arthur looks at what are now the three best-known tech companies and through the voices of former and current staff examines their different strategies to try to win the battle to control the exploding network connecting the world. To win their battles: Apple used design and a relentless focus on the customer to the exclusion of others; Microsoft depended on the high quality of its employees' programming skills and its monopolies in software to move into new markets; Google focused on being quick, efficient and using the power of data analysis to make decisions and get ahead of would-be rivals. Accessible and comprehensive, Digital Wars analyzes the very different cultures of the three companies and assesses exactly who are the victors on each front. The new edition will be brought up to date since the last edition in 2012, taking into account the growth of Android, mini-tablets and Microsoft's Surface. It also includes a new chapter looking at how China moved from being the assembly plant for iPods and other music players, and smartphones, to becoming the world's biggest smartphone business -- while shutting out Google both as a search engine and smartphone provider"-- Provided by publisher.

"The first time that Apple, Google and Microsoft found themselves sharing the same digital space was 1998. They were radically different companies and they would subsequently fight a series of pitched battles for control of different parts of the digital landscape. They could not know of the battles to come. But they would be world-changing. This new edition of Digital Wars looks at each of these battles in turn. Accessible and comprehensive, it analyses the very different cultures of the three companies and assesses exactly who are the victors on each front. Thoroughly updated to include information on the latest developments and rising competitors Samsung, it also include a completely new chapter on how China moved from being the assembly plant for music players and smartphones, to becoming the world's biggest smartphone business"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

01 1998 3

Bill Gates and Microsoft 3

Steve Jobs and Apple 5

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 9

Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Google 12

Internet search 13

Capital thinking 15

02 Microsoft antitrust 18

Steve Ballmer 18

The antitrust trial 19

The outcome of the trial 22

03 Search: Google versus Microsoft 26

The beginnings of search 26

Google 29

Search and Microsoft 34

Bust 35

Link to money 41

Boom 44

Random access 50

Google and the public consciousness 53

Project Underdog 55

Preparing for battle 59

Do it yourself 61

Going public 66

Competition 67

Cultural differences 68

Microsoft's relaunched search engine 69

Friends 74

Microsoft's bid for Yahoo 76

Google's identity 77

The shadow of antitrust 80

Still underdog 85

04 Digital music: Apple versus Microsoft 91

The beginning of iTunes 92

Gizmo, Tokyo 95

iPod design 97

Marketing the new product 98

Meanwhile, in Redmond: Microsoft 103

iPods and Windows 105

Music, stored 109

Celebrity marketing 114

iTunes on Windows 118

iPod mini 122

The growth of iTunes Music Store 124

Apple and the mobile phone 127

Stolen! 128

Two-faced 133

iPod in the ascendant 144

Ecosystem: hardware and apps 145

Scratched! 147

Silence from Apple 151

Apple's best results 154

Zune 155

Tying the Zune to the Xbox 157

White Christmas 159

Twilight 162

Rout or strategy? 165

05 Smartphones 168

Mobiles and Microsoft 168

Android 171

ROKR and a hard place 172

IPhone, that's what 176

Just walk in 178

Disrupted 190

Free as in data 193

The drawer of broken dreams 197

Developers and the iPhone 200

Free as in lunch 203

Apps for all 211

Money in apps 212

Flash? Ah 213

Envy 220

The losers 221

Android rising 223

Patently 234

App patents 241

Tipping 243

Got lost 245

The revolution will be handheld 251

The downward spiral 260

06 Tablets 263

'Within five years' 263

Third category 268

Apple dominant 272

Always on 274

Post-PC 279

Grand unified theory 281

07 China 284

Microsoft 284

Google: ethical challenge 286

The reset 289

Biting a chunk from Apple's reputation 290

Killer fact 293

Smartphones and tablets 298

The definition of 'open' 298

Don't Dalai 302

08 2011 305.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 323) and index.

ISBN:

9780749472030

0749472030

OCLC:

864096136