Google Web 2.0 redux: Eric Schmidt meets John Battelle, again

UPDATE:  Google Office enterprise security snafu

What a difference five months and Web 2.0 Expo versus Web 2.0 Summit makes?

NO. Today's John Battelle–Eric Schmidt repartee presents like a replay, not a rematch.

On the subject of office suites, Schmidt played the semantic game, claiming that Google is developing applications for just "casual" use. "We don’t call it an office suite. It's not targeted at the [Microsoft] Office–we never made that claim. For many people, it would be just as easy to have computers in the cloud store information you use every day." Data in the cloud should be more searchable and enable more rapid sharing, he added. "We embarked on a strategy to build apps that are search centric and very sharable….as something use in normal life. We are not arguing it is an [Microsoft] Office replacement, but a different way of manage information. I don’t think it replaces Office. The focus we have is casual sharing and usage, and it has one benefit–it is free.

Schmidt’s that’s my story and I’m sticking with it, circa April 17, 2007:

Google CEO announced that a presentation application that is part of the Google Docs and Spreadsheets is forthcoming, completing the basic "Office" suite.

We don't think its a competitor to Microsoft Office, Schmidt said. It's casual and sharing and a better fit to how people use the Web. My guess is many companies in the audience are building products like this or other variants of this using the emerging architecture….Schmidt continued maintained that Microsoft is building applications for the Web and that the shift to online applications is a testament to the Web.

Web 2.0 Summit Schmidt:  We would never trap user data, he said.

Web 2.0 Expo Schmidt: Schmidt one again pledged that Google would never trap users' data and would allow people to take their information out of Google.

GOOGLE REALITY CHECK

Google displaces Microsoft, already, February 23, 2007, circa Digital Markets

Who says we can all get along? Not Google, any more.

I have been putting forth Google Enterprise's real feelings towards Microsoft since last November when I spent several hours at the New York City Googleplex and heard Michael Lock, Director of North American Sales for Google Enterprise, energize the Google Enterprise troops for "Death to the (Microsoft) hierarchy! (see ""Google Enterprise strategy: ‘Death to the hierarchy’".")  

In an effort to spur adoption of its just launched Google Apps "substitute" for Microsoft Office, Kevin Gough, product manager, Google Enterprise touts "Google Apps replaced Microsoft Office at 100,000 businesses."

Is there a Google trap? Data portability vs. accountability, March 9, 2007, circa Digital Markets

Data portability does not necessarily equal data accountability. Google’s Privacy Policy pages reinforce that while Google may tout data “portability,” the Google user data Cloud remains, for all practical purposes, impenetrable for users.

Google may allow users to manipulate their data offline, but it does not put forth any absolute guarantee that users are able to modify, correct and/or permanently delete their data from the Google systems.

Principal difference between today's Web 2.0 Expo meetup versus the Web 2.0 Summit chat? The acquistion du jour is now DoubleClick, not YouTube!

SEE: Google Office enterprise security snafu

ALSO: Google DoubleClick merger: Who wins, who loses