Timing is everything. I suspect Microsoft are going to find life a lot tougher in the years ahead then they have in the past. (Read this article and associated links and comments for a good overview The Big Picture: Google vs Microsoft: Now We're Getting Serious.)
Here's another great take from today's NYT on what is shaping as one of the biggest business battles of all time:
As the PC era wanes and the Internet era gathers force, Microsoft's revenues have never been higher and its quarterly profits remain in the billions. But it has yet to find profitability in an array of businesses that it has entered beyond those it has dominated, operating systems and office applications.
....
I.B.M. remained highly profitable in the 1980's even after the advent of the PC produced a growing array of challengers. But by the early 1990's, the eclipse of the mainframe and I.B.M.'s inability to find its way in the PC era forced the company to go through a sweeping makeover in management and culture; it has never regained its previous influence.
So Microsoft won't disappear but it may not be the industry leader it has been for recent decades. The next era in computing is being developed elsewhere.
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