The Google Sony Dalliance
August 19, 2009
I wanted to capture some thoughts after a conversation at lunch with one of the Beyond Search goslings. The Slashdot post “Sony to Convert Online Bookstore to Open Format” triggered the question, “Why is Google making its book collection available to a lame duck like Sony?”
In our conversation several hypotheses floated above the bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken:
- Google needs a consumer product pal to replace its former best buddy Apple. Sony is not dead yet, and Google’s magic might transform this old sneaker into a Manolo Blahnik number
- Google could fill a gap in its service offering with Sony’s game juice. Google, someone told me, spoke to Yahoo in 2005 or 2006 about a tie up for online games. Yahoo was too disorganized to do much more than look like the Yahoo we know and love.
- Google could add some online love to Sony’s pretty clumsy online efforts.
Is there more to this Google Sony romance than a love of public domain ebooks? Good question. No answer at this time.
Stephen Arnold, August 19, 2009
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