Microsoft vs Google: The Consumer Equation

There may be a clash of civilizations going on elsewhere in the world, but in the technology sphere there is is the obvious clash between MS and Google (There are many other clashes but my point is specific to this).

I won't take sides right here right now but I will suggest the two choices as a stripped down account of what the end user is faced with:

1. A company that wishes to sell you its product in a competitive environment and further that the product is not something you really need in the majority of instances.
   
2. A company that has no product to sell you. What it provides is a means for other companies to sell you their products AND it will try to make the companies that sell to you as close as possible to what you want, or at least can be convinced you need.

Whatever happens, we are going to want to spend our money on "stuff". That's inevitable. We also have only a certain number of hours per day to spend. That's a fact. So, that means we want to waste the minimum amount of being sold stuff we don't want. It is this equation that Google is trying to satisfy.

The second choice is surely the preferred choice..