Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#11

Post by jacksmith21006 » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:53 PM UTC

baud147258 wrote: post #6

Proven wrote: post #2

Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so do Ubuntu and CentOS... not to the extent Google and FB do it.

For Google, there's also Android, Gmail, Google Drive and Google docs

Plus YouTube which now serves over 1.7B hours of video a day. But then Google also has others climbing like Google photos.

Google has now the most popular smart speakers in addition even though came later.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-overtakes-amazon-in-sma... Google overtakes Amazon in smart speaker market in Q1 2018 ...

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#12

Post by jacksmith21006 » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:54 PM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #10

baud147258 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Google, there's also Android, Gmail, Google Drive and Google docs

Overwhelming majority of revenue for Google doesn't come from consumer devices and services... but rather, from advertising. Microsoft has tried hard to get into that arena, but it seems nobody can really edge out Google. Of course, most of Google's devices and services funnel data into the advertising system... but they also do have paid services that are pretty popular, GSuite (Google Apps for Business), Google Dom…

One thing that gets confused is that ads are a business model not a product or service.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#13

Post by ma2rten » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:54 PM UTC

gruez wrote: post #7

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

>certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. probably shadow banned. take a look at his comment history.

HN actually has a feature so people with a certain amount of Karma can vouch for a comment like that and make it visible.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#14

Post by sanxiyn » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:57 PM UTC

rb808 wrote: post #5

I dont really understand this. The race for hosting VMs/Containers is a great short term opportunity but there is no long term differentiation to be had. I suspect in 10-20 years Azure wont make much money . Meanwhile Windows and Office are still popular but not as compelling as they used to be. Xbox? I'm not sure why Microsoft is so popular with investors.

Differentiation is enormous amount of CAPEX required. Cloud is priting money and Azure is solid #2. I don't see both changing. (That is, profitable cloud and Microsoft's cloud position.)

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#15

Post by skybrian » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:58 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

It's been a long time since Google just had one product. I'm sure anyone here could name a dozen.

Why say things that everyone knows to be false?

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#16

Post by paulie_a » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:59 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

While anecdotal, I only know one person that still uses Microsoft office, and that is just for Excel. Everyone else is libre office or Google docs. I grew up on office but once they introduced that stupid ribbon menu I ditched it. Apparently I was not the only one.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#17

Post by fma » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:59 PM UTC

baud147258 wrote: post #6

Proven wrote: post #2

Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so do Ubuntu and CentOS... not to the extent Google and FB do it.

For Google, there's also Android, Gmail, Google Drive and Google docs

For Microsoft...there's Android

"Financially Microsoft is one of the biggest winners from the growth of Android as a platform, thanks to its wide range of patents."

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.for...

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#18

Post by jobu » Thu, May 31, 2018, 4:02 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

While I agree with most of your points, this one seems arguable:

> Microsoft Excel remains the default lingua franca of business. Google Docs and Spreadsheets has not replaced Office.

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides have taken over the education market from elementary school through college, and for many businesses Google's offerings have become interchangeable with Microsoft's. Outlook and Excel still have a strong hold on larger companies because Google hasn't matched features, but Google Docs are much easier to share and collaborate with coworkers.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#19

Post by golfer » Thu, May 31, 2018, 4:05 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

Give Google a little more credit. They have 7 separate products with over 1 billion users each [0]. Search, Gmail, Android, Chrome, Maps, Youtube and the Google Play Store.

[0]: https://www.popsci.com/google-has-7-products-with-1-billion-...

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#20

Post by goalieca » Thu, May 31, 2018, 4:05 PM UTC

paulie_a wrote: post #16

lkrubner wrote: post #3

I'm puzzled why "Proven"s comment is dead? What they wrote seems accurate. There is no reason why this comment should be downvoted, and certainly no reason why the comment should be dead. This is what they wrote: Simply speaking they actually make more products people like to use. Google essentially has just one, and it’s based on diminishing user privacy to the maximum extent possible. MS collects user data but so d…

While anecdotal, I only know one person that still uses Microsoft office, and that is just for Excel. Everyone else is libre office or Google docs. I grew up on office but once they introduced that stupid ribbon menu I ditched it. Apparently I was not the only one.

The ribbon menu is quite excellent and makes office usable again. I know so many people that use office, it's also the standard suite in my workplace and probably most others that aren't startups. I much prefer latex and git for doing editing but word is quite functional.