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The message from Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, appearing before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, will be familiar to anyone who's heard Schmidt speak before. But it began this time with a shot across the bow at a certain unnamed competitor, which he acknowleged pioneered technology and had been synonymous with the development process (as though that were past tense).

Schmidt told senators, "That company lost sight of what mattered," and as a result had to come under Justice Dept. oversight. Without naming Microsoft, Schmidt clearly placed Google as Microsoft's successor, not only in terms of Americans' collective mindset, but in terms of the government scrutiny it finds itself under today. Schmidt is evidently hoping that any comparison between Google and Microsoft will automatically render Google the superior organization.