IBM, Oracle, and Google

October 14, 2010

Update: October 14, 2010, 9 30 pm Eastern. We just got off a phone call that offered some interesting spin on the Oracle- IBM pact. This caller suggests that IBM is working both sides of the street. The IBM play looks like a stage kiss from Oracle’s point of view and a real kiss to Google. Google can now claim that IBM is the focal point of contentious Java. Interesting.

“Oracle-IBM Pact Cuts Android Off at the Knees” turns a Fortune 50 tactic into a dream. Sure Oracle and IBM are looking like love birds with little interest in making Google into more than an annoying little brother on big brother’s hot date. Here’s the passage that struck me as edging towards wishful thinking, not the cold hard reality of open source goodness:

That would be a disaster for Android. Apache developer Stephen Colebourne, who’s been following the minutiae on his personal blog, believes IBM cut this deal because Oracle agreed to unblock a logjam in the Java Community Process that controls the platform. As a result, new versions of Java with long-awaited features should arrive in 2011 and 2012. But with no major financial backing for the development of its Java libraries, Android could slip behind and lose the love of its Java-savvy developer base.

One cannot discount the fact that two elephants seem to be engaging in some trunk stroking. But, in my opinion, the “cuts off at the knees” should be “could have an impact on Google.”

I interpret this story and its wishful thinking as a poke at Google. If a company cannot stop Google in the open market, why not resort to some old fashioned for the 50 tag team action.

The world of open source is a quite interesting place. The big companies wiggling into a crowd may have some unexpected consequences. Will Google choose to go through life with no legs under Android? Stakes are rising as the Google disruption triggers some interesting mainstream media comments and some fascinating team ups.

Stephen E Arnold, October 14, 2010

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, Mobile, News, Technology

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.