Interesting news analysis from Steve Lohr at the New York Times gives us something to think about differently when it comes to technology. When you and I are in the trenches, worrying about server patches, zero day vulnerabilities, and whether or not we should buy two big servers, pizza boxes, or blades, there's an entire economic story playing out on a larger landscape that influences our decisions. It's worth considering Lohr's points.

He points out that Microsoft under Gates was master of the "network effect," which is the understanding that the more people using a product increases its value. They applied the strategy in ways that went far beyond how other tech companies were considering such matters. But then came Google.

Lohr says that Google has proven that a "learning by doing" strategy can (and did) trump the Microsoft approach. Some analysts say this is just another version of the network effect in action, only at a slight remove. They liken it to the foreign affairs term, "soft power," which is more about influence than direct force.

As the Internet has impacted and changed so many businesses, so too has the software and computing business changed. Do you buy a suite of office software applications for $400 or so, or do you use the free equivalents that exist on the Web? Do you impose standards, or write to open source formats? Is Google a computing company, a media company, or both? And that brings us to another question: should your software company think like a media company as well?

Google versus Microsoft is an interesting pair of models to consider, and if you add in the recent rumblings that Microsoft is back into talks with Yahoo! about an acquisition, it gets even more interesting (or is that confusing).

What's your take? Send email to [email protected] to talk about whether Google has the better model, or whether Microsoft still has some big plans for the coming years. Where are you placing your corporate bets right now? I bet the answers will be very mixed.

--Chris Brogan...
Vice President, Strategy & Technology
CrossTech Media.