This morning, CNBC reported that Google is in close talks with Dell to install Google software on all Dell computers for a one billion dollar fee. CNBC continued to theorize that this will be a huge threat to Microsoft, a company whose stock is already languishing.
The debate then went into whether Google has an operating system and what it is exactly company will be installing on these Dell machines. I should point out that the report said that the talks were in a fragile stage at the moment.
One has to wonder exactly what software Google has that is worth paying a billion dollars to distribute. Is it a browser? The company has been rumored to be coming out with a browser for a very long time in fact. Is it an office suite? Perhaps the deal with SUN a while back has led to Google reselling OpenOffice? But in this case it wouldn’t be reselling, it would be paying for distribution rights. Doesn’t sound like a great business model.
Sure Google has other programs that let you track your news, photos see satellite pictures, search your hard disk, etc. but aren’t these novelty items? I use Google search religiously and even Froogle on occasion but I can't get comfortable enough with any other Google software to allow me to use it for more than a few days or so before I move on.
Assuming I am an anomaly and the rest of the world seems to love any product that starts with a G or rhymes with “oogle” then why does Google need Dell? After all, doesn’t Google have the distribution power of 10 Microsoft’s with its search home page? If it has a program that is so amazing, can't it just let people download it?
It would seem that if this agreement is really going to happen then Google has something radically new up its sleeve. Perhaps a browser, perhaps a Microsoft Office killer. Something software-based and something customers aren’t likely to download. The goal would be to get the customers before they get hooked on something else.
In my mind that leaves the browser and Office and possibly a media player. Or is the company selling a Linux operating system and applkications?
If Google is launching software in the office market then Microsoft’s crown jewel in MS Office will be in jeopardy of losing share. Google has been very persistent lately and has inked deals with AOL, NASA and many other companies. If the rumored deal happens then stand back and watch as the war with Microsoft intensifies considerably. In the mean time, if you’re organization orders Dell computers then wait a while as soon enough you will see some new applications on your shiny new Dell monitors that more than likely start with the letter G or rhyme with “oogle.”
Google and Dell Billion Dollar Deal
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Google and Dell Billion Dollar Deal TrackBack URL : http://blog.tmcnet.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/22858
Is Google working with Dell to become the new king of the desktops? Here's a blog on what CNBC is reporting. Verrrrry interesting. Google has a desktop, Goobuntu based on Ubuntu, and an office suite, OpenOffice.org. They have gmail. And Read More
“Fellow blogger Rich Tehrani writes that for that amount of money, we should expect something “radicallyâ€? new.” ... Read More
Last week the high-tech coalition known as the European Committee for Interoperable Systems launched a new antitrust complaint against Microsoft. But what this have to do with GooGeL? Now I don’t want to be talking about conspiracy theories, but ... Read More
Good article.
Well, as an OpenOffice.org instructor, I am crossing my fingers bigtime for this deal to include distribution of OpenOffice.org. It'd make OpenOffice.org part of the mainstream, make it easier for people who don't know about it to start playing with it, and students will be less alarmed at having to switch to a program they've never heard of.
But the bigger question is, of course, *what operating system*? Is this what Goobuntu is going to be used for? Because THAT is the absolutely enormous possible effect of this deal. I imagine that Dell and other hardware companies might want to deal with someone other than Microsoft, and if it's profitable too, there might be a line around the block outside Google's door soon.
All speculation, of course. But I'm really looking forward to seeing what Google does with operating systems and office suites.
Thanks!!
It does seem like this is the year that Google will show how it plans to take on Microsoft either with competitive software, an OS, a browser or all three.
This could be a defensive move by Google to prevent Microsoft from doing what it did to Netscape.
one billion dollar for this deal is a unbelievable ammount of money.
of course its a lot of money, nice deal
Google
very good search engine
Google and Dell are close to a billion- dollar deal that would see software from the leading Internet search company placed prominently on computers sold by the world's largest computer seller.