More on the underdo strategy

Nowhere is the underdo strategy more active than in computer software. Thanks to Microsoft setting a high bar for pricing (and growing higher--see these new prices for Windows Vista and Office!), or deficient functionality, or both, they've left lots of space for companies to develop products that offer good or better value at a much lower (or zero) price point. Here's a short list:

• Firefox web browser
• Basecamp
  
• Linux
  
• MySQL
  
• OpenOffice
• Gmail
  

Do you think Google sees this white space as an opportunity? You bet. They bought Writely and put together Google Docs & Spreadsheets as a way to grow into a market that has been Microsoft's alone. Yet now Microsoft is trapped in the position of the high-price competitor, offering loads of features that no one uses.

In an example of how things have changed, I use exactly two pieces of Microsoft software: Windows XP and Media Player (and that only when I have to).

And I'm not a cutting-edge tech guy, either.

innovation, product development, marketing, software, business