Saturday, July 05, 2008

The acceleration of corporate senescence: Microsoft and Google

A few days ago I noted Cringely's summary of Microsoft's fallen state. Today I posted on how NYT makes Balmer's day - Google's mortal nature.

Neither Google nor Microsoft are as decrepit as GE, much less GM. Microsoft will print money for decades, and Google is still delivering tools I love to use. 

And yet ...

Twenty years ago Microsoft was a fierce competitor. Ten years ago they were the Naked Plains Ape of their world, exterminating every possible competitor. Now they're doddering.

Ten years ago Google was an explosive phenomena. Now they show a combination of the vices of private and publicly held companies of a far greater age.

Are these corporations aging far faster than their predecessors? Does hyper-growth equate to accelerated senescence for publicly traded companies?

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