dbusguy
07-26-2005, 05:01 PM
From CityPulse
http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Story/20050726-001/page.asp
Satellite wars have begun
You’ve got to love competition between businesses.
There have been some great rivalries in recent history: Coke vs. Pepsi, Hertz vs. Avis, Eaton's vs. Simpson's, and even satellite vs. cable.
But few can match the never ending battle waged by Microsoft and Apple in the struggle for your computer dollar.
That epic fight took a bizarre turn this week, after the company Bill Gates built appeared to literally sweep its competition right off the map.
Like many of its competitors, Microsoft offers a service that shows satellite photos of almost any spot on earth. Some 99.9 percent of them are accurate, down to the smallest detail.
But that .1 percent that wasn't just happened to be on the bird’s eye view of the massive Apple complex in Silicon Valley, California.
The area has 11 buildings and a plush courtyard, a sprawling edifice that attests to the success the company has had with its Macintosh computers and its best selling Ipod.
But when you look at the site through Microsoft’s new “Virtual Earth (http://virtualearth.msn.com/)” website, all you see is a grainy photograph of what appears to be a single warehouse and a deserted parking lot.
Is this a deliberate swipe from one giant to its closest competitor?
Microsoft insists it’s not. Instead, the software monolith swears its new program is merely in the ‘test stage’ and that a few of the photographs on display are from 1991- even though a copyright indicates they were issued in 2004 and 2005.
But search engine giant Google, which offers a similar service (http://maps.google.com/), has the proper shot.
"This is about mapping for consumers," swears Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn. "We pull the right addresses, it just seems the images are perhaps older."
He insists the company is updating anything that’s wrong and the problem will soon be fixed.
Until then, this Apple falls far from its tree. And those watching it via Microsoft may sense there’s something rotten about the fruits of its labours.
http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Story/20050726-001/page.asp
Satellite wars have begun
You’ve got to love competition between businesses.
There have been some great rivalries in recent history: Coke vs. Pepsi, Hertz vs. Avis, Eaton's vs. Simpson's, and even satellite vs. cable.
But few can match the never ending battle waged by Microsoft and Apple in the struggle for your computer dollar.
That epic fight took a bizarre turn this week, after the company Bill Gates built appeared to literally sweep its competition right off the map.
Like many of its competitors, Microsoft offers a service that shows satellite photos of almost any spot on earth. Some 99.9 percent of them are accurate, down to the smallest detail.
But that .1 percent that wasn't just happened to be on the bird’s eye view of the massive Apple complex in Silicon Valley, California.
The area has 11 buildings and a plush courtyard, a sprawling edifice that attests to the success the company has had with its Macintosh computers and its best selling Ipod.
But when you look at the site through Microsoft’s new “Virtual Earth (http://virtualearth.msn.com/)” website, all you see is a grainy photograph of what appears to be a single warehouse and a deserted parking lot.
Is this a deliberate swipe from one giant to its closest competitor?
Microsoft insists it’s not. Instead, the software monolith swears its new program is merely in the ‘test stage’ and that a few of the photographs on display are from 1991- even though a copyright indicates they were issued in 2004 and 2005.
But search engine giant Google, which offers a similar service (http://maps.google.com/), has the proper shot.
"This is about mapping for consumers," swears Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn. "We pull the right addresses, it just seems the images are perhaps older."
He insists the company is updating anything that’s wrong and the problem will soon be fixed.
Until then, this Apple falls far from its tree. And those watching it via Microsoft may sense there’s something rotten about the fruits of its labours.