At least according to Googler Matt Cutts. I think. His exact tweet just seemed to imply it.
What am I talking about? Apparently, Microsoft, overlord and beneficiary to so many coffee drinking Seattle-ites, has taken issue with Barnes and Noble and their tech partners for their use of Android software on Kindle and other tablet devices.
You’re probably all asking the same question that every sane person within a 500 hundred mile radius of our Los Angeles web design firm is asking- why would Microsoft be able to sue anyone over a supposedly open source platform like Android? And apparently Google wants us to think the same thing. According to a tweet that I’m interpreting from Mr. Matthew Cutts, head of Google’s Spam Force Five.
Of course, the problem is that there are always two sides to every story. Microsoft is suing because they hold recognized patents for “natural ways of interacting with devices by tabbing through various screens to find the information they need; surfing the Web more quickly, and interacting with documents and e-books”.
If that sounds like a rather broad statement, you’re right it is. Many major companies, including our beloved Apple and Google, are known for gobbling up useless patents covering extraordinary territory. Happily, our government signs off on them even though these corporations hold no current intent to develop or market any products relating to the patents. They just want to be patent trolls when someone invents something useful down the line that might make money or revolutionize a marketplace.
I don’t particularly Microsoft for these types of moves. It is hard to buy that they are anything but the massive, aging behemoth that everyone perceives. Problem is, I don’t really like Google pretending their much better. Its hard to believe they’re Robin Hood when they do the same thing rather frequently.
Oh well, its not like either of them particularly care. While I typed this blog from our new location in Seattle, they made another billion dollars and launched a few dozen more lawsuits.
