
I was watching the latest talk on Balmer and the example he made of the guy with the Apple iPhone. For Balmer, he is at war with Apple. What they do is bad and what we do is good. I know people that won’t talk to me because that dialog might give me some credibility. It’s a view that works for a lot of people.
For me, I’ve always had a problem demonizing competitors. Now that does not mean I don’t like competition. I love it! I think it is what makes great products. However, for me it’s more like football. I’m a Florida Gator and I love when we outsmart, outwork, or generally crush the competition.
At the same time, many of the fans of these other teams are my friends. I even have kids attending other SEC schools. I love to watch a talented player on the other team, and have no problem acknowledging when they do something I think is pretty smart. It makes it better when we beat them
When it comes to Social Media, I’ve kept to this “Football” analogy. If a competitor has a conference coming up, I’ll retweet it just because I know some of their customers are following me and its useful for them. If one of their employees says something smart in a blog, I’ll repost it. Why? Because, I want to cater to the smart customers. Because, I think the real competition is on the field with the technology not in some poll that can be greatly determined by what happens off the field.
So how do you view your competitors? Does social media change things?