Apple and Google: Stealing the Technology Spotlight

What do technology giants Google and Apple have in common? Besides staying relatively stable in a otherwise shaky economy, both companies have managed take the spotlight in the media; something that cannot be said about other technology entities such as Microsoft.

So why is it that a report today from the Pew Research Center says that 15.1% of all technology stories are about Apple, and another 11.4% about Google? Simply put, the answer is innovation. You see, in the thirteen-month reporting period (1 June 2009 – 30 June 2010), Apple and Google made several groundbreaking innovations that changed truly impacted the technology industry, and thus stole the spotlight when it came to press and media coverage.

For Apple, the release of the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 have landed them a great deal of media coverage. While a lot of this coverage was positive in regards to the mobile communication innovations made on the part of Apple, one cannot deny that there was a lot of negative press as well. Take for example the antenna issues that surfaced shortly after the release of the iPhone 4. This event is important, because it shows that even though the iPhone made it into the spotlight, the press that it was getting was far from positive.

Looking at Google and their Android operating system, we can see that Google too is making innovations in the mobile communications field. But why isn’t the Windows 7 Phone and the recently debuted BlackBerry Torch getting the same attention as the up-and-coming iPhone and Android platforms?  I think the answer behind this is that people are just not as excited by RIM and Microsoft as they used to be. In other words, they are boring.  This explains not only why Google and Apple are getting high levels of media coverage, but also why their competitors aren’t.

Another example of the press coverage towards Apple is the introduction of the Apple iPad; a mobile communications device that allows for the browsing of electronic media on the go.

For Google, the press coverage goes beyond the Android operating system.  The introduction of more intuitive instant searching, high company acquisition rate, as well as the Viacom lawsuit have beefed up the company’s presence in the media.

But again, we still ask ourselves why Microsoft hasn’t gotten the same coverage with the introduction of their “Bing” search engine. And again, the answer seems to be that because of Microsoft’s past reputation, people are just not willing to give the company the light of day anymore.

It is becoming quite evident that the media has the same obsession with Apple that we as consumers do, and that the same can easily be said of Google.

What do you think? Should the media focus on companies outside of Google and Apple? Is this focus justified? Share your opinion in the comments!