corporate tantrums

<![CDATA[ This isn't really new at this point -- about 6 weeks old, in fact -- but something worthy of discussion nonetheless. If you haven't heard, CNET news won't get anything from Google for a year because one of their reporters decided to google the Google CEO to make a point about the availability of information. In response, Google has thrown a tantrum.

The NYT article mentions other cases -- Apple and IBM, to name two -- of this sort of response. I can't see how this sort of reaction helps any of these companies. Are people going to stop using Google because their information is out there already and searchable? Probably not. Are people going to stop buying iPods because of an unfavorable biography of Steve Jobs? Again, not so much. But this sort of thing lingers in the news only because of the reactions from Google, Apple, and others.

Interestingly, we probably won't change our buying patterns because of this immaturity either. In the end, Apple and Google's actions probably don't mean much to us, except to be a little more cynical of our corporate citizens. From their end, that isn't much in the way of value. ]]>