TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

John August writes:

At Google board meetings, do they discuss whether they should aim for smaller market share? I doubt it, though if asked about any other industry, they would stress the importance of robust competition.

Narratively, that’s the story I find most interesting about Google. At a certain point, do you become so large and powerful that evil is unavoidable?

Google isn’t evil. Shrouding their business model in the cloak of “openness” might be dishonest, but they certainly aren’t evil.

There isn’t anything morally wrong with Google’s Android strategy. Their business is advertising, mobile is the next big growth market that’s going to define how we use computers for the next few decades, and so they’re trying to secure a place for themselves (a strategic place, at that) so they can remain successful.

There’s nothing wrong with that. When I wrote my piece explaining Google’s Android strategy, I wasn’t trying to vilify Google or explain why readers should abhor them; rather, I was trying to explain what they’re doing. I personally dislike their strategy (trying to commoditize your competition’s greatest advantage and then make money through advertising strikes me as lazy), and I think mobile devices will be better off if Apple’s paid market succeeds versus a web-like, advertising-based model, but that’s not evil. It’s just different than what I think is a good strategy and what will, in the end, be beneficial for users.