Apple vs. Google

The growing war between Apple and Google continues as Apple acquired a mobile search app company called Siri. This is a large step into the searching field. But it's not in the same sense as a Google-style search engine, where a massive amount of data is crawled to reveal a result. Siri acts more in a way that fits into Apple's paradigm of user interactivity. The user is expected to ask Siri to accomplish some sort of task (e.g. get dinner reservations) and Siri will operate through some other website's API to return an actual dinner reservation for the user.

This appears to be Apple's effort to counter Google's search monopoly in a way that fits into Apple's iPhone and iPad product lines. By providing a system where a user does not have to navigate to Google, click on a website, hopefully navigate that site in a mobile setting, and get the desired result, Apple is essentially bypassing what Google can offer in that area.

I see this as a good move for the end consumer. In concept (as, of course, application is a different beast) Siri sounds like it would be quite useful for a variety of mobile phone users. For Apple, this is a fantastic tactic. They are entering the search arena, and are finally going into battle against Google. The outcome will be interesting to watch.