14 Classic Tech Rivalries

Inkjet Printers vs. Laser Printers

Ah,little inkjet printer, you give us rich colors for our photographs--as long as we use your specially coated paper. But soon, so soon, the ink wells run dry, the colorful cataracts diminish, and everything comes out all blue or yellow. And since a replacement set of ink cartridges for you may cost as much as the whole printer did originally, we must bid you a sorrowful adieu and move on to a new printer--which, tragically, too, will find its way to sleep in the local landfill. More prosaically, some of your cartridges contain microchips that block printing after an expiration date or before thecartridge is empty; we can't understand why you won't let us print on our own schedule. We're perplexed that third-party cartridges tend to be far less expensive and often match the OEM cartridges' quality, and we harbor horrible suspicions as to why your manufacturer has gone to such great lengths to block their sales. But cheap access to a clean, pretty paper copy of the Google Map to the restaurant where we're going for supper or to a quickie photo of the kid for Grandma makes all that go away.

Oh mighty (and inexpensive)monochrome laser printer, for black-and-white documents you are the only way to go, pounding out prints at a cost per page of around 3 cents--much less than the cost of inkjet printing. And for color elements, such as charts, logos, and other graphics, your high-toned siblings,the color laser printers, produce longer-lasting prints faster than inkjets can, at about the same cost per page. True, when your cartridge finally conks out, the bill can really hurt--and if you're a color laser, the cartridges can set me back more than the printer did. So maybe I should share most of my "prints" via e-mail over my iPhone...

Any old app can let you enter some characters, maybe italicize a few, and add some links. But if you want to do serious, manly work with office documents, you needMicrosoft Office. Just try using mail merge on your documents in Google Docs. The feature doesn't exist, does it? Applying conditional formatting to your spreadsheets? Also AWOL. Creating a custom animation in your presentations? We didn't think so. Okay, so maybe you don't use these superpowers every day--but don't you want them to be there, ready to spring into action, when you do need them?

Sure, Google Docs doesn't have all of the features of Microsoft Office. Today's animals aren't as big as the Tyrannosaurus Rex either, but we all know what happened to the Tyrant Lizard King. Plus, Google Docs has some cool features that Office doesn't--and they happen to be features you'll actually use, like the ability to get to your documents from any PC that has a Web connection. (You caneven edit offline with Google Gears.) Another great feature is the ability to let friends and colleagues share and edit your documents without a hassle. Oh yeah, and did we mention it's free?

Netscape vs. Internet Explorer

Alas, poor Netscape hasceased to be. After debuting in 1994, Netscape (called Netscape Navigator starting with version 2.0) quickly became the most popular Web browser and helped turn a mostly text-based and underutilized global network of networks called the Internet into the hottest thing since (at the time)Tiffany-Amber Thiessen. Over the course of abyzantine seriesof version numbering systems and owners,Netscape gradually lost market share, but eventually it inspired the open-source Mozilla andFirefoxbrowsers.

BecauseInternet Exploreris integrated with Windows, it's always there, it loads quickly, and it continues to be themost popularbrowser in use. Some Web site components, such as Netflix's Watch Instantly feature, are written to work exclusively with Internet Explorer (sorry, Mac users). IE 7 has incorporated a few key amenities from Firefox, too, including pop-up blocking and a tabbed interface. The current version of Microsoft's browser, IE 7, works well and becomes a necessity at Web sites that refuse to work with Firefox. At this rate, though, by the time IE 8 comes out, its features will be lagging years behind those ofMozilla's Firefox.

After a North American release through Atari fell through, Nintendo went it alone, unveiling itsNintendo Entertainment System (NES)at the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Nintendo's Mario, the Mario Brothers sibling originally known as Jumpman, is arguably the best-known and most beloved video-game character in history. By 1990, the NES was the best-selling video game console in the United States, thanks to titles like Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt (with Zapper gun), The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong Jr. In 1989, Nintendo began to lose market share in North America toSega's 16-bit Genesis console--a circumstance that Nintendo sought to reverse in 1991 with the release of its own16-bit console, the Super NES. These two 16-bit rivals were the key combatants in the notorious console wars of that era--a conflict that stirred more-intense schoolyard and media debate than today's Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 rivalry. Were you a Mario maniac or a Sonic the Hedgehog kid?

Sega launched itsMaster Systemin the United States only a few months after Nintendo's original NES became widely available. But Nintendo had a trump card to play against Sega: Its strictgame developer contractsprohibited developers from releasing any NES game on any other console for two years. Because the NES had emerged as the dominant console, a developer had to decide between maximizing its game's sales and gambling on the success of a new console. This stark choice helped limit the game offerings Sega could muster. In 1989, Sega hit back with its Genesis console (known outside North America as the Mega Drive), the first true 16-bit console. The Genesis pushed theNEC TurboGrafx-16into obscurity and quickly began eating into sales of Nintendo's original NES. Nintendo took two years to achieve parity on a technical level with the Genesis, via the 16-bit Super NES. Sega's blue-spiked mascot Sonic is a relative newcomer to the video-game scene (born in 1991). Though Sonic is a freedom-loving and independent super-hedgehog (faster than the speed of sound!) who can be counted on to come to the aid of his friends, he can be testy, and doesn't do well in water without a good running start.

Microsoft vs. Google

In just 30 years, Microsoft has produced an array of successful products--notably, the Windows operating systems--that not only dominate, but in some cases define how the world does business. Microsoft has shown that it knows how to create and sell software better than any other company in history. So far. But as businesses gradually switch to open-source and Web-hosted services, Microsoft could see that dominance wither. The company's inability to win large audiences for its online products and services, plus the steady growth in popularity of Macs and Linux-based PCs, may not bode well. Microsoft sometimes seems to be its own worst enemy, too. Many people in the target audience forWindows Vistaare convinced that running Windows XP on their existing PCs is just fine for now. Desperate to sell new versions ofOfficeevery couple of years, Microsoft develops innovations like ribbon menus and XML file formats--but lots of users say, "Thanks, but no thanks."

In less than ten years,Googlehas grown from an upstart search engine running out of a Silicon Valley garage into a $23 billion information technology powerhouse. Along the way, Google has broadened its portfolio of products and services by introducing game-changing technology to an existing market (Pagerank, Gmail) or by acquiring other promising companies and their products (Blogger, Writely). Unfortunately its march toward world dominance causesunease among privacy experts. Sound familiar? Though its approach isn't quite the same as Microsoft's lethal "embrace, extend, extinguish" modus operandi, Google has certainly managed to grab significant market share in some areas, while generating revenue along the way. But can it actually beat Microsoft in its strongest suites?  

If you want thefastest download timesat the lowest cost, cable is clearly the way to go. Companies like Comcast have put together great-looking service bundles that include cable TV service, voice over IP, and (claimed) download speeds of up to 12 mbps. When everything works properly, cable is simply superior to DSL. But the issue of shared access continues to bedevil cable. When your neighbors are downloading files, too, everyone's speeds will suffer. And, if you haven't had cable before, you'll have to add lines to your house. On the other hand, you won't have to deal with the phone company, which is a huge plus in any rational system of thought.  

Sure, in most areas, even thefastest DSL connectioncan't match the speed of cable. On the other hand, you don't share your DSL bandwidth with your neighbors, so you really ought to get close to the advertised download and upload speeds from your DSL service provider. In most instances, you won't need any new wiring either because your existing phone lines can handle the job. So what's the catch? DSL speed depends heavily on the quality of your existing lines. If they are poor, your service will be poor. And you'll have to deal with your phone company (see above). But if you don't want to add cabling to your home, you don't insist on having the fastest download times, and you're in a loving relationship with AT&T, go for DSL.