[LCM Articles] Google vs Microsoft in Israel

[Loai Naamani]

Another flavor of a "war of others" that should - and hopefully soon will - be waged on Lebanon's turf; highlights in red
L.

 

 

Microsoft Bill Gates Takes Google, Terrorism War to Israel

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency 

Jerusalem----October 30 ..He came, he saw, but did he conquer?
Bill Gates, the Microsoft CEO, made his first trek to Israel, but his media presence was upstaged by a terror bombing in Hadera. In
addition, most likely due to Gates strict security contingent, his schedule was not broadcast by the Government Press Office which
usually provides the schedules of visiting heads of state and celebrities.

Gates arrival in Israel was not coincidental. The co-creator of Microsoft did not turn into a Zionist overnight. One just needs to
quickly look at Israel's hi-tech headlines the month before. Does one remember the story about Google opening an office in Israel?
Bill Gates does. So does Microsoft Israel and their marketing team. But why would Bill Gates risk his life coming to Israel - a tiny
Island of democracy in the Middle-East which bleeds nearly every day as a result of Islamic terrorism?

Bill Gates did not become the wealthiest man on the planet by winning the lottery. Current reports estimate that Gates is worth 30
billion. Rather he was in the right place at the right time. With a brilliant mind and the dedication of a workaholic, Gates made
and has kept his wealth. He is an excellent businessman with several finely tuned visions of tomorrow's workplace and he plans to
retain his place as a world leader.
So with or without Hamas, Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad, Gates would come to Israel to do battle on Google's new turf. Gates would not
have the Google flag planted in Israel without a fight. But would Gates also address terrorism while in Israel?

Bill Gates went about his average business signing a meager but symbolic 1.4-million-dollar agreement with Israel to encourage
Israel start- up companies. "It's no exaggeration to say that the kind of innovation going on in Israel is critical to the future of
the technology business," Gates, who spent only 24 hours in Israel, told a news conference in Tel Aviv with Acting Israel Finance
Minister Ehud Olmert. "So many great companies have been started here," he said, adding Israel had been "fairly unique", along with
the United States, in creating new products, patents and copyrighted software. Gates, who left the David Intercontinental Hotel in
Tel Aviv met later in the day with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon. The two announced a project making computers available to 250,000
underprivileged Israeli pupils. 

But the real business appeared to be Google. Most media reports from Israel transmitted very general soundbytes making Bill Gates
appear warm and cordial. Even Israel Jerusalem Post criticized the Gates visit as all to do with nothing. But the Post reporter did
not have his eyes on the ball. 

Google and Microsoft are at war. They are spending millions in research and marketing to out do one another. Google is aiming on
taking down the Microsoft operating system and replacing it with their own. After all why should Google be second with a search
toolbar clinging uncertainly to a Windows browser? And why should Microsoft all but be forgotten with its 12 percent market share in
the search and SEO markets?

Microsoft plans to upgrade their search technology in the next six months, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates said in remarks Wednesday. As
Gates praised Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israel's contributions to the global high-tech market. Bill Gates also answered
questions about Microsoft's fierce competition with Mountain View, California-based Google. "We are not afraid of Google, but there
is intense competition between us. Google is our main competitor, brilliant people work there, but Internet search engines are still
in a terrible state compared to where they could be," Gates was quoted as saying in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. 

"This is a situation that we hope will change for the better in the next six months. We are working on it, as are other companies,
such as Google and Yahoo," Gates added in comments that were translated into Hebrew. 

Microsoft and Yahoo already have been investing heavily in search, hoping to narrow Google's lead in the field. Google processed 45
percent of US search requests and SEO activity in September, outdistancing 23 percent for Yahoo and 12 percent for Microsoft's MSN,
according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Gates denied the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft intends to acquire Google or other leading
Internet companies. Microsoft has recently formed partnerships with Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and RealNetworks Inc., and is
reportedly interested in buying a stake in Time Warner Inc.'s AOL service. 

Google also has teamed up with with Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company, to explore buying a minority stake in AOL.
Microsoft is sometimes criticized as a giant that crushes competition. Gates' response to the Maariv daily: "Maybe when you succeed
there is always someone who will oppose you." Israel, Gates said, does "fantastic things in the field of technology and I am excited
to be here." Israel has especially contributed to the area of data security, Gates was quoted as saying in Maariv, largely due to
expertise acquired by the Israeli military. Many high-tech workers in Israel received training from elite military units in areas
such as encryption and computer security. 

Now, have we discovered the second reason for Gates visit to Israel? In taking Google head on would it not make sense for Microsoft,
Bill Gates, the Israel Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces to cooperate as Gates advises the US military and Homeland
security? But none of this would be stated openly. No one would dare speak of the Gates - Sharon meeting in Israel as one to do with
democracy's war against global Islamic terrorism. Was Gates also meeting with the head of the Mossad, the Shaback and their computer
heads or just discussing giving away computers to poor children living in Israel?

Just one day after the Gates - Sharon meeting in Jerusalem, Microsoft announced that it would team up with the US Federal Trade
Commission and Consumer Action to promote <http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2005/oct05/10-27Zombie.mspx>  PC protection.
If Gates is eager to work with the FTC, then how about the FBI and CIA?

Gates has enormous respect for Israel, Israel's ability to defend herself and Israel most worthy asset - brain-power.
"Israel has enormous power in the high-tech world, most people know that Israel, relative to its size, has made achievements in the
field of technology," Gates told Maariv. Gates refused to say whether Microsoft plans to expand its 200-person facility in the
coastal Israeli city of Haifa. Expansion of the Haifa facility would provide more jobs in Israel's highly competitive high-tech
market. Israel is considered to be one of the world's leaders in high-tech products, which account for half of the country's
exports. Many large technology companies, including Microsoft, Motorola and Intel, have sizable research operations in Israel.
Google Inc. recently placed advertisements in Israel newspapers recruiting Israel engineers for its Ireland-based operations. "The
business achievements of Microsoft in Israel are excellent and the company is currently working to massively expand its research and
development budgets worldwide," Gates was quoted as saying in Israel's largest Hebrew daily Yediot.

"Considering the density of Israeli start-ups and local successes, Israel is like a bit of Silicon Valley," Microsoft co-founder and
chairman Bill Gates told "Globes" yesterday. Gates said that being the richest man in the world "is a privilege, but also a
responsibility." He said that working at Microsoft and the charity fund to which he contributes required great responsibility, but
also helped him enjoy life. "I don't think about money all day; I think about software and about my family." The only thing that
disturbed Gates's calm was questions about Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft's young, dynamic competitor. Gates said that Google
wasn't a player in Microsoft's field, adding that it had copied some of its products from other companies. 

(... continued here: http://www.israelnewsagency.com/microsoftgoogleisraelseo581030.html)

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