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Which of Apple, Google and Microsoft had an office with a “drawer of broken dreams”and what (real) objects lay inside it? When did Microsoft have the chance to catch Google in making money from searchand who vetoed it? Why did Google test 40 shades of blue on its users? How long did outside developers wait before asking to write apps for Apple’s iPhone after Steve Jobs announced it? Who said that Microsoft should have its own music playerand why did it fail? The answers, and much more, can be found in this new book by Charles Arthur, technology editor of The Guardian newspaper of London. Digital Wars starts in 1998, when the internet and computing business was about to be upendedby an antitrust case, a tiny startup and a former giant rebuilding itself. It looks at what are now the three bestknown tech companies, and through the voices of former and current staff examines their different strategies to try to win the battle to control the exploding network connecting the world. Microsoft was a giantsoon to become the highestvalued company in the world, while Apple was a minnow and Google just a startup. By February 10 2012, Apple was worth more ($462bn) than both Microsoft ($258bn) and Google ($198bn) combined. The chance had come from tumultuous battles between the three… To win their battles… Apple used design, the vertical model of controlling the hardware and software, and a relentless focus on the customer to the exclusion of others; Microsoft depended on the high quality of its employees” programming skills and its monopolies in software to try to move into new marketssuch as search and music; Google focused on being quick, efficient, and using the power of data analysisnot human “taste”to make decisions and get ahead of wouldbe rivals. With exclusive information from interviews with people such as Don Norman, former VP of Apple Computer and Pieter Knook, former SVP of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft, and many more current and former staff of the three companiesincluding one person who has worked for all threeArthur also addresses: what the inventors of the hard drive used in the iPod thought it would really be used for how Apple transformed the smartphone market which of Android or Apple that forced Microsoft to abandon Windows Mobile what happened to Microsoft’s tablet plan and much more… About the Author Charles Arthur is the technology editor at the Guardian newspaper.An experienced journalist, he has over 25 years’ experience in technology and science journalism. He met Bill Gates, Larry Page and Steve Jobs on numerous occasions.He speaks regularly at conferences, writes and blogs on all topics relating to technology. Table Of Contents Introduction 1998 Bill Gates and Microsoft Steve Jobs and Apple Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Larry Page and Sergey Brin Internet search Capital thinking Microsoft antitrust Steve Ballmer The antitrust trial The outcome of the trial Search: Google versus Microsoft The beginnings of search Google Search and Microsoft Bust Link to money Boom Random access Google and the public consciousness Project Underdog Preparing for battle Do it yourself Going public Competition Cultural differences Microsoft’s relaunched search engine Friends Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo Google’s identity The shadow of antitrust Still underdog Digital music: Apple versus Microsoft The beginning of iTunes Gizmo, TokyoiPod designMarketing the new product Meanwhile, in Redmond: Microsoft iPods and Windows Music, stored Celebrity marketing iTunes on Windows iPod mini The growth of iTunes Music Store Apple and the mobile phone Stolen! Twofaced iPod in the ascendant Ecosystem:hardware and apps Scratched! Silence from Apple Apple’s best results ZuneT ying the Zune to the Xbox White Christmas TwilightRout or strategy? Smartphones Mobiles and Microsoft Android ROKR and a hard place iPhone, that’s what Just walk in Disrupted Free as in data The drawer of broken dreams Developers and the iPhone Free as in lunch Apps for all Money in apps Flash? Ah Envy The losers Android rising Patently App patents Tipping The revolution will be handheld Tablets ‘Within five years’ Third category Apple dominant Always on PostPC Grand unified theory 2011 NotesReferences and further reading Acknowledgements Trademarks