I couldn?t help but notice that the technology portions of the Mind the Gap blog have been sunny on Google and Apple and fair to partly cloudy on Microsoft.?This is not?deliberate, but more a reflection of today?s industry.? Headline making innovations are not coming from Microsoft – well, at least not positive ones.? Microsoft, for example, has really taken a beating on Vista, its latest and very highly anticipated operating system that I have avoided like the plague.? Vista has been so panned (unjustified in most cases) that the company is now showing screen samples of Windows 7.0 and hints that the new OS will be available for developers by late 2009.? The screen shots are very enticing and may keep disgruntled Vista users from going to Apple.?

For the record I have tried Windows Vista, which was included in a notebook computer that I purchased before a trip to Japan.? During the twelve hour flight to Tokyo my Vista driven notebook gave me the Blue Screen of Death six times.? Upon safe harbor in the United States I returned said Vista notebook crasher and bought a computer installed with Windows XP.? Noting my horrific experience with Windows Vista, the thought of storing my company?s data on Office 2007 has made me lose sleep.? Marketing experts say that my experience with Vista has ?tarnished? or ?de-valued? Microsoft?s brand name with me.? Apparently this has happened quite a bit, because Microsoft launched a massive headline stealing advertising campaign with Jerry Seinfeld ? which lasted two installments.

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Now going back to Google, the company has made massive headlines with two recent innovations.?

First they sent the browser world afire with the release of Chrome, the company?s first internet browser and topic of a .

? The second was yesterday?s unveiling of Android, Google?s first smart phone operating system and engine behind T-Mobile?s new G1 mobile phone.? There is nothing that I can add about Android that has not already been (where I read about Android), but I can say that the platform sheds light on what will be the future:?

1)?People now expect their?phones to have the same power and functionality as their computers and will use the phone more frequently than said computer (peripheral companies beware).

2)?Open source systems

, such as Android, Firefox, and Chrome, which tap into the creative minds of millions of eager programmers is the future of platforms (Microsoft beware).? Noting that over 100 million iPhone applications have been downloaded by just a few million iPhone users is clear evidence that the public is hungry for widgets, apps, and geeky programs that tell us how fast our phone is dropping.?

That leads me back to Google.?

Sergey Brin, one of Google?s founders, attended yesterday?s launch of Android and mentioned that he programmed an app for the G1 that takes advantage of the phone?s accelerometer.? Sergey wrote a program that times the round trip flight of the G1 when you throw it in the air.? Why?? Because he is a geek.?

I like Google because of its geekiness and the innovation that it generates by embracing Geekdom.? I am also a fan because the company keeps a warm focus on public goodwill, which leads me to .?

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To celebrate its 10th Anniversary (10 years ? $175B market value) Google has launched its Project 10 to the 100th, a contest that will sponsor ideas that have the deepest impact on the greatest number of people.? The rules and regulations are pretty simple:?

Reach: How many people would this idea affect?

Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?

Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?

Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?

Longevity: How long will the idea’s impact last?

Categories:

Community:?How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?

Opportunity:?How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?

Energy:?How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?

Environment:

?How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?

Health:?How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?

Education:?How can we help more people get more access to better education?

Shelter:?How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?

Everything else:?Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

gap intelligence would like to sponsor the creation of an idea that we can take to Project 10 to the 100th.? Kelly, our primary altruistic idea generator, is eating crepes in France, so send us a note if you have a concept in mind.

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In the meantime, we are collectively scratching our heads.?