War declared: Apple’s Cult Takes on Google’s Borg

Analyst Opinion – The ignorant masses milling around the iPod display at the local Wal-Mart last week had no idea that they were at Ground Zero of the next titanic battle in all of technologydom. And while past conflicts, like Microsoft kicking IBM into the PC weeds a generation ago and Google more recently knocking Microsoft down a peg or two, typically involved relative newcomers picking off established, dominant leaders, the fight that’s about to get underway is different than anything we’ve seen before.

That’s because our protagonists, Google and Apple, are both very much at the top of their game. And these relative superpowers have just taken off their proverbial gloves and declared war. Where’s the popcorn?

The news may have flown under most people’s radar. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, had also been a member of Apple’s board of directors for the past three years. Well, until last week, when Apple announced his resignation. No one’s surprised, as growing competition between the two – Google’s Android’s targeted right at the heart of Apple’s iPhone empire, for one, and its upcoming Chrome OS won’t be playing nice with Mac OS X – increasingly forced Mr. Schmidt to recuse himself from any discussion involving anything remotely related to mobility and operating systems. Come to think of it, it’s hard to imagine any conversation that wouldn’t have placed Mr. Schmidt in a conflict of interest position.

Read more: tgdaily.com