Digital wars
Subtitle: Apple, Google, Microsoft and the battle for the Internet
By: Charles Arthur
Edition: 2nd ed.
Publisher: Kogan Page
Published: 2014
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780749472047; 9780749472030
Subjects: Industries; Google (Firm); Microsoft Corporation; Inc Apple Computer; Internet industry; Internet; Computer Industry; COMPUTERS; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS; General
Description: "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"--

"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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

English.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; Chapter One 1998; Bill Gates and Microsoft; Steve Jobs and Apple; Bill Gates and Steve Jobs; Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Google; Internet search; Capital thinking; Chapter Two Microsoft antitrust; Steve Ballmer; The antitrust trial; The outcome of the trial; Chapter Three Search: Googleversus Microsoft; The beginnings of search; Google; Search and Microsoft; Bust; Link to money; Boom; Random access; Google and the public consciousness; Project Underdog; Preparing for battle; Do it yourself; Going public; Competition; Cultural differences.; title: Microsoft's relaunched search engineFriends; Microsoft's bid for Yahoo; Google's identity; The shadow of antitrust; Still underdog; Chapter Four Digital music: Apple versus Microsoft; The beginning of iTunes; Gizmo, Tokyo; iPod design; Marketing the new product; Meanwhile, in Redmond: Microsoft; iPods and Windows; Music, stored; Celebrity marketing; iTunes on Windows; iPod mini; The growth of iTunes Music Store; Apple and the mobile phone; Stolen!; Two-faced; iPod in the ascendant; Ecosystem: hardware and apps; Scratched!; Silence from Apple; Apple's best results; Zune.; title: Tying the Zune to the XboxWhite Christmas; Twilight; Rout or strategy?; Chapter Five Smartphones; Mobiles and Microsoft; Android; ROKR and a hard place; iPhone, that's what; Just walk in; Disrupted; Free as in data; The drawer of broken dreams; Developers and the iPhone; Free as in lunch; Apps for all; Money in apps; Flash? Ah; Envy; The losers; Android rising; Patently; App patents; Tipping; Get lost; The revolution will be handheld; The downward spiral; Chapter Six Tablets; 'Within five years'; Third category; Apple dominant; Always on; Post-PC; Grand unified theory; Chapter Seven China.; title: MicrosoftGoogle: ethical challenge; The reset; Biting a chunk from Apple's reputation; Killer fact; Smartphones and tablets; The definition of 'open'; Don't Dalai; Chapter Eight 2011; Epilogue The age of uncertainty; Notes; References and further reading; Acknowledgements; Trademarks; Index.