The defection of Dr. Kai-fu Lee to Google is the first digit to fall from the leprous giant, Microsoft-the outward manifestation of a bigger problem long in the making. That which made the software giant tall, the nourishment of cutting edge engineering, is also the chief repast of the unexpected rival in Google. The nervous tapping of billionaire fingers can be heard all the way from Redmond.
"We need to do this to stop Google," Bill Gates is reported to have said to Dr. Lee referring to the lawsuit aimed at preventing Lee from working for the search engine.
This was just months after Lee sat in on a top-secret executive meeting entitled "The Google Challenge."
So why is a software company who controls 90% of the desktop market shaking in its giant boots over a search engine start-up? Simply put, the PC is passé.