What's with Bing?

Ok, so granted I've only seen a couple commercials and read one article, but I'm already annoyed by Bing. Two reasons. One, the commercial doesn't make sense, you don't know what it's for, and it is borderline obnoxious. Thank goodness for Tivo. And two, what is Microsoft thinking? Rumor has it that they are going to drop $100 million on promoting this (rumor also has it that BING means Beacause It's Not Google). That's a lot of money to be the next best thing since Google, especially since Google didn't go anywhere.

Here's the thing, and I don't think Microsoft is alone. But how much sense does it make to be "as good as" the best? As a customer, if you have a choice between someone who is as good as the best or the best, what are you going to choose? As a company, if your goal is to be as good as the best or leader, then you have already failed. Because while you are working at being as good as the best, they are working at being better (and if they aren't well, that's a whole other story).

It's something that I see here every now and then. Aspirations to be 2nd best, or developing products to meet a current need as opposed to a future need. It's frustrating, and one thing that we aspire to push beyond.

There's no point in trying to be second best, or trying to be as good as the leader. The goal should always be the best. Two cliches, but the work... 1.) To be the best you have to beat (not tie) the best. 2.) Second place is the first loser.