Link: Wikipedia founder says to challenge Google
The on-line collaboration responsible for Wikipedia plans to build a search engine to rival those of Google and Yahoo, the founder of the popular Internet encyclopedia said on Thursday.
Wikia Inc., the commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia, is aiming to take as much as 5 percent of the lucrative Internet search market, Jimmy Wales said at a news conference in Tokyo. "The idea that Google has some edge because they’ve got super-duper rocket scientists may be a little antiquated now," he said.
Interesting that people are making Google into some sort of omnipotent 800-pound gorilla, almost as if they want it to take on the role that Microsoft had in the 1990s. But with hindsight, we know that the myth of the omnipotent Microsoft was just that, a myth, and it’s definitely the case with Google today. No company can do all things well, and there will always be opportunities for disruptive upstarts — we shouldn’t let the existence of a big, successful company suck all the oxygen out of the room.
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I’ve been hearing more and more start-ups justifying their potential by knocking Google. A common talking point is that Google’s becoming antiquated and is build on a decade old technology. Well, if that helps you get funding, go for it, but I think Google’s made a few updates over the past 10 years.
I’ve never heard anyone assert that Google has old technology, and I’ve never made that point myself. It’s definitely the case, though, that no company can do everything, and that innovation at large companies slows down significantly as they grow larger.