“Paul Graham recently wrote a couple of thought-provoking essays on the social and economic conditions that are most conducive to the formation of startup companies, How to Be Silicon Valley and Why Startups Condense in America.”

“What if Google was so brilliantly twisted that they’re using Writely and Spreadsheet and Calendar and massive numbers of new hires as flares to distract Microsoft (and others)? Shoot up a flare (Spreadsheet) and scare Microsoft into paying even more attention to new attacks from new directions. The flares serve one purpose: to redirect competitors’ energy away from focusing on search/ads, which are Google’s core competency (and primary revenue source). Hey look over here!!! Is Google the best slight of hand magician around? Is the ‘Google Office’ just a head fake?”