Google vs. Microsoft
Both are missing the point… Like the Narn and Centauri in Babylon 5, they are doomed to blindly do battle with each other until the end. Apple, on the other hand, continues to make their own rules and play their own game. Google and Microsoft, however, seem to have fallen into the trap of doing things for the sake of unseating the other first - and advancing the state of the art second or third (if at all). Apple went through that phase in the past with their underdog battles with IBM and later Microsoft but since then they seemed to have moved on. When Jobs came back, I think he brought with him the kind of maturity only gained by the wisdom of having lost a few battles. Will Apple succeed forever? What happens when Steve finally retires or dies? Who knows - but right now they seem to be the only major player who has the balls to actually build things they love to use themselves.