This was the goal of Netscape's Marc Andreessen, back in the 1995 when Andreessen famously boasted that the Web would reduce computer operating systems to nothing more than a "poorly debugged set of device drivers."
That statement turned out to be the red flag for Microsoft, which reared up and crushed Netscape. Although the struggle between the two companies was dubbed a "browser" war, it was really a struggle for control of the operating-system platform. When applications are written in the Web browser, they work equally well on any operating system. Although individual computers still need operating systems, it doesn't matter which one, from the point of view of the application. Thus the operating system may eventually become the commodity that Andreesen predicted it would be--and that hits Microsoft where it hurts, according to Amit.
Search Engine Watch's Sherman doesn't believe Google will take on Microsoft directly so much as encroach on its territory as digital convergence becomes more of a reality. "Is it possible that Google will offer an Office clone? Perhaps, but I don't see Google as having that as a primary mission," said Sherman. "Rather, the whole notion of what we think of as computing is changing and evolving. Google is very focused on making it easier to use and consume information, no matter what kind of media, or what kind of device you happen to be using. More and more, it looks like it will collide with Microsoft in that arena."
Stymied By Its Own Success?
Although most people think of Google as a search company, they are really a future-looking media company--and this is something they have yet to master.
