What is the difference between Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple? Each represent a major force in computing and the Internet.
I argue that Facebook and Microsoft are well matched together versus Google and Apple.
On one side we have luck and opportunity delivered at your front door. On the other team we have innovation, genius, and vision.
If given this choice on what team would you place each company?
Two of these companies did not have an initial vision of their product or company that is anywhere near what is obvious today. In these two cases both simply at the right place at the right time.
In the case of Microsoft, Gates and Allen rejected the first offer from IBM to write an operating system. It took two offers and about 20 years before Microsoft actually produced something useful. A crappy product delivered to all computers manufactured over that time and voila, monopoly was given to them.
For the Facebook owner, a limited vision of a simple idea probably stolen from someone else anyway. He just wanted to connect with his collegiate friends. And literally by the next day its a magic business.
But today some people call Gates and Zuckerberg genius. Never more have two people been so undeserving of such a title because we should really be a bit more selective on the people that deserve to be mentioned in the same class as Einstein.
At least Apple and Google worked for it by bringing innovation and products to market that are simply better than everyone else. No one does what they do better.
