I was surprised when the announcement was made that Google CEO Eric Schmidt was joining the board of Apple. I’d thought that Google was so focused on their own vision that they hadn’t paid any real attention to Apple. This was based upon my perception that Google was slow or lacking in delivering Mac OS X versions of many of it’s “beta” applications.¬† However thinking back, that situation has improved substantially in the last 6 months or so, maybe I should of realized that Googles’ view of Apple was being upgraded.¬† I wonder who has been courting who in this relationship?

The main question now is what common views may Google and Apple be sharing, if any? Let’s look at some the resources that both bring to the table and what might be possible collaborations.

E-Media

Apple has a large market share of on-line music sales with iTunes and Google has been making headway with it’s Google Video offerings. Apple also has a huge installed hardware base with the iPod. The latest generation of iPod is video capable and Apple may soon introduce a newer generation of iPods with even better video capabilities.¬† I could envision some collaborations taking place here. Perhaps Google providing it’s own front end to Apples’ iTunes Music library and Apple adding video content to iTunes from Googles’ video content. Lots of possibilities and a huge user base to draw upon.

On-line Services

Apple has it’s .Mac service that as of late is beginning to look a little tired and needing an over-haul. Google recently announced its “Google Apps for Your Domain” which includes Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google Page Creator.¬† Rolling these two services together could result in an on-line service that offers some fairly substantial services and applications.

One consideration has to be at the core of many of these possible collaborations…Microsoft.¬† Both Apple and Google are competing against Microsoft.¬† Whatever their direction, I hope they remain focused on each of their strengths and maximize any join offerings.

I’m sure the think tanks at Microsoft are going over all the possibilities and obstacles this closer relationship of Apple and Google may present them. They’ll probably have to hire another thousand people and spend another billion dollars on research to properly analyze this situation. ~grin~

Counterpoint: It’s entirely possible that we may see no direct collaborations between Apple and Google. This relationship may not last (Steve Jobs is not the easiest guy to get along with)¬† or it may be barren.

In any case, it will be interesting watching the story unfold. 

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