Just read a brilliant article by David over at 37Signals called You couldn’t Pay me to work for Balmer. While there’s no real question that Microsoft is losing serious ground, David did a great job of showing this was a long time coming, and potentially all Balmer’s fault.

David also made the point the Apple needs some competition. I think they’ve got it in spades and it’s called Google. While two companies’ core businesses started out looking very different, we are increasingly seeing them overlap.

Take Android vs the iPhone and Apple’s return shot, the introduction of iAd.

What interests me most about this competition is that they employ antithetical business & innovation models, i.e. mostly closed vs mostly open. These models both have huge benefits to the companies that employ them and to the consumers that use their products. They also both produce knowledge and innovation in different manners, which when competing so healthily are actually very complimentary.

What worries me most is Job’s health.

Very few dictators in history have been able to pass the torch along. And let’s be honest, a dictator is exactly what jobs is. Benevolent mostly, but a dictator nonetheless. The problem is, I really don’t see another Jobs in the ranks at Apple. And, as you’ve so eloquently shown this could be a rather large problem for the consumer in the coming decade.