This past week both Apple and Google released earnings which were largely positive. It’s pretty shocking to see how much cash Google’s advertising model is creating, but then I step back and think: Google is my home page. I use Gmail almost exclusively. Every search I do starts with Google. I haven’t really gotten into the Google homepage thing, but I’ll likely get sucked into that, too, as I waste time playing the trivial Da Vinci Code game.

Google is basically good at what Microsoft formerly excelled at, which is releasing what seems to be at first glance boring, stripped down products, but once you start using them, they work well, enough to rely on, on a daily basis, and before you know it you’re hooked like a coffee addict on a bleary monday morning.

What we clearly have is Web 2.0 where Google is the .com leader, the tide that lifts all boats. With the first boom it was Yahoo!, now it’s clear that Yahoo! is playing catch-up, most recently with Yahoo! Maps, that has its moments but is so clearly inspired by Google’s Maps.

Similarly we have Microsoft with Vista that seems to be playing catch-up with Apple. Apple is doing the innovating on all levels. In Costco today, I was struck by the sight of a Mac Mini in all-in-one, plastic packaging, not unlike that used for cellphones and routers. It just shows how far Apple has come and how many more consumer markets it will conquer. Perhaps soon you’ll be able to pick up an iPod in Starbucks.

Disclosure: I own a tiny amount of Apple stock.

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