Open and shut case

Posted by Jordan on 6 November 2007 | 0 Comments

So Google shares hit an all-time intraday high of $730.23. It's clearly doing some people some good.

More thoughtfully, a couple of the bigger stories around Google this week responsible for these stratospheric movements are to do with the invitation from Google to welcome all (well, nearly all) and sundry to enter its doors and share in the gains. Whether it's social networking with friendly mobs such as LinkedIn, Plaxo and Oracle or handsets and networks in developing a mobile platform with a group including Motorola, Samsung and T-mobile, they're all at it.

The Economist suggests that they may be avoiding the mistakes of the 90's and Facebook could be about to experience a "Netscape moment" with the new Google sponsored OpenSocial set of standards going directly against Facebook's proprietary (closed) approach, while the FT reckons "Google is not about to eat (Nokia and Microsoft's) lunch" with their new open source platform Android.

I reckon the difference between opening one selectively inclusive door and closing another exclusive door is a matter for some philosophical debate

In Google we trust.

By the way. Is anyone really using this social networking mallarkey?