[There's war afoot--internet war, that is (not that there isn't plenty of the regular kind too...)! Comm. techie Eli Katz explains all. -Ed.]

Walking around campus the last few weeks, it’s hard not to hear people talking about the election, ROTC and registering to vote. But another, arguably more important, event took place this month; the launch of Google Chrome Beta.

With the (premature) launch, Google has just entered into the heart of the Browser Wars and they made quite an impact. I should first point out, for disclaimer purposes; I am a huge fan of Google. Not just because of their search engine in “Pirate”, last year’s Gmail Paper or even Google MentalPlex, but because of the simplicity of possibly the most used internet tool in the world. In addition, Google has come out with a host of information gizmos that are useful and FREE!

With Google Chrome, the focus of the “computer-experience” has continued the shift away from the operating system and towards the emerging “all-purpose” browser. This is a simple but powerful change in thinking. It makes sense since we today we use the browser for everything from shopping to word-processing.

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Bill Gates has just realized that Google is dominating the web searching world and wants to get in on some of the action. Having seen Microsoft’s $41.7 billion bid on the table, Yahoo has some serious decision-making to do. The bid itself values each Yahoo visitor at around $1000/visitor. (Unfortunately, I don’t remember the last time I used Yahoo, which means I ain’t worth bollocks). But comparing the bid to Yahoo’s market capitalization of $37.1 billion, Gates isn’t exactly being stingy–surprisingly, investors are predicting a rise in the bid.

Now with all the cha-ching being thrown around, there’s got to be some real value in this move. But the numbers don’t exactly tell the whole story. Both Yahoo and Microsoft have witnessed falling share prices, a 13% decrease for the latter company while Google is boasting a majority in the online search market. As an aside, I say invest in some Microsoft a little before the merger is made (that is, if it looks like it’s going to be made) in hopes of catching it on it’s way back up from slump-town. So despite the not-so-fabulous statistics, there must be a good reason for all this and there is. Bill Gates wants to own as much of the world as possible. And while he cries out for more competition in one of Google’s many fields of expertise, he continues to tell everyone else in the PC operation system world to shove it.

Also, I take no responsibility in the outcome of the financial investment advice given above. Good luck.