Amazon, Apple, Faceboöhnd GoogleFOR SEniNG THE INNOViTION AGENDB-BUT WHICHCOMPANY REIGNS SUPREME?

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are transformational firms,deservedly obsessions of the business world. But if you had to pick,which one would you say is the most innovative—literally the mostinnovative company in the world? (And then who's No. 2, No. 3, and No.4?) The four were featured on our cover last November ("The Great TechWars"). Since then, they have jostled for the No. 1 title—with Amazon'sKindle Fire tablet, Apple's Siri voice assistant, Facebook's Timeline inter-face, and Google's reinvention of YouTube as a niche-programmingpowerhouse. Yet each company has fallen victim to hubris, causingpublic-relations firestorms and some sloppy products.

The top slot can go to only one, and we'll award it in a few pages. Butwhy should we have all the fun? Flip the page and open the gatefoldto find quizzes, games, and brainteasers that can help you rate the FabFour—measured from their wildest new ideas to their cultural cachet.Then see if your opinion matches ours. If it doesn't, worry not. In amonth or so, one of these firms will surely disrupt everything again.

72 FASTC0MPANY.COM MARCH 2012

our- POP QUIZ. HOTSHOT:-•FIRST, CONSiOER THEiR YEAR CONNECTiNG (OR NOT) WITH 00SI0MER8...

Kindle Fire sales!

GoogleAmazon >

FacebookApple

Steve Jobs dies:outpouringofbrand

love follows.: DebutsNong-fequested

white IPhone.

Debuts Sin andIPhone 4S.

Larry Pageannounced as CEO.

LaunchestashionslteMyHablt.

Hires Daytum'scotounders.vyhich It later credits withTimeline Inspiration.

: Accused bytheFTCof'untair

and deceptive"practices regarding

: user privacy.Raises $1.5 hllllon ;from Goldman Sachs.Really-fhoseguys?

Newspaper reports:terriblecondifionsfor

warehouse workers.Kindle Firecomplaints

Busted torhiring PR tirm to

smear Google.

A one-manshow in New York

draws nationalattention to Apple's

poor workingconditions in China.

Settles with JusticeDepartment tor

funning iiiegai drugads trom Canada.

Customers ottered$5togointostore,

scan item, then buyit online instead.

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUSt SEPTEMBER OCTDBER

.AND FIGHTING WITH 0 1 ANOTHERSEPTEMBER 2010:Apple launches

social network Ping,with Facebook inte-

gration. Next morning,Facebook blocksApple's access.

NOVEMBER DECEMBER

JULY 2010: Amazonintroduces Facebook

integration, tosee your friends'

interests within yourpersonal store.

APRIL 2011:Facebook begins

rolling out a couponservice, moving

in on Google Offersand LivingSocial(which Amazon

invested in).

JANUARY 2010: XApple buys mobile ad

agency Quattro Wireless,two months after Googlebeat Apple in a bidding

war for AdMob.DECEMBER 2010:Google launcheseBookstore. Pur-

chases work on mostreaders—but not

Kindle.AUGUST 2011:

Tech geeks noticedthe slow unveiling ofGoogle Drive, a cloud-

storage system torival iCloud.JULY 2011: Apple

kicks GoogleBooks off the App

Store. (It laterJULY 2011: Apple tells

Amazon to remove Kindle Storelink in Kindle iOS app, which

had circumvented Apple's 30%cut of in app purchases.

E FaBBEST OE TBE EOBB?ONHO'STUKINGIHE SIEVE lOBSIllK?Each quote is from Zuckerùerg, Page, Cook, Bezos-or Jobs1 "What we reallybuilt is a fully inte-grated media service."

2 "If you have ahealthy disregardfor the impossible,you actually getbetter people to workon your project. Youknow, they get reallyexcited, they workreally hard. You know,they work late atnight. And it alsoturns out that mostcompanies aren'tcrazy enough to doanything like that."

3 "We exist at theintersection of tech-nology and socialissues."

4 "As a company,one of our greatestcultural strengthsis accepting the factthat if you're goingto invent, you'regoing to disrupt.A lot of entrenchedinterests are notgoing to like it."

5 "Technology aloneis not enough. It'stechnology married

with liberal arts,married with the hu-manities that yields usthe result that makesour heart sing."

6 "We view it as ourrole in the system toconstantly be innovat-ing and be updatingwhat our system is toreflect what the cur-rent social norms are."

7 "We are stubbornon vision. We areflexible on details....We don't give up onthings easily."

8 "[Our company]should stand for abeauty, technologicalpurity of innovation,and things that areimportant to people."

9 "Our goal is notto build a platform;it's to be across allof them."

10 "It's up to us toconvince people tomaybe spend a littlemore for a materiallybetter experienceand product."

OWHO OSESTNEXOOKIESIPMIECTCODENMES?INSTRUCTIONS:Using deductive rea-soning based on theclues, write in an 0 tomark what's true and anX for what's false in thesquares on the grid. Eachcode name was used bya company for a productit developed—or, in onecase, is rumored to bedeveloping. Your goal:Match each companywith Its code name andproduct (nothing isused twice).

CI

^ APPLE

^ FACEBDDK

[ H DESKTOP DEVICE

9 MDBILE DEVICE

^M SDCIAL MEDIA

IJH TADirT

BÜFF

Y 1

CARL

SAG

AN

FIONA

TACD

TOW

N

^ PRODUCTS ~

DESK

TOP

DEVI

CE

|

MDBI

LE D

EVIC

E

SOCI

AL M

EDIA

TABL

ET

1

CLUES:

1 The tablet, whichwasn't named CarlSagan or Taco Town,was made by eitherApple or Amazon.

2 The mobile devicewa5 named Buffy.

3 Google's social-media site, the projectnamed Carl Sagan,and Amazon's prod-uct were all launchedin different years.

4 Apple's projectcode name had morethan five letters.

ON H I H OfOUNGPRBEESSIONllSMOST HINTTONORKEOR? (Top eight U.S. companies, according

to a Universum survey of 6.700 workers)

WROSEPRRDÜCTSHIVE IREHIPPESIPLICEMENI?

CULTURAL CACHET

1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGONTATTOO (U.S.):With the exception of a Sony product, LisbethSalander uses only for her madhacking skills.

: Google stuff she bought on Amazon, Apple computers

2. MODERN FAMILYPhil says that if the house were on fire and he hadto choose one thing to take, he would take"all of our family photos... which I keep on my

. So, my ."

.11 ¡Pad b) Android phone c) Kindle Fire

3. LOUIELouie says that students who do relief workabroad actually only want .

future bosses to see it in a Google search.j, better prices on stuff than they can find onAmazon ' > photos for Facebook

4. GOSSIP GIRLPrince Louis Grimaldi shows Blair a Gossip Girlblast about her paternity test on his

a) ¡Phone < ' • Android phone c) Facebook app

5. MEN OF A CERTAIN AGEAfter being out of the magazine world foryears, Melissa takes the only writing job shecan get: penning .

ads for Google reviews for Amazonterms of service for Facebook

6. HORRIBLE BOSSESJulia uses to blackmail a guy withraunchy photos,

n) a Google bomb Facebook c i an iPad

7. HALL PASSFred gets a call. He turns to his .and the camera closes in on it.

a) iPhone b) Android phone

8. NO STRINGS ATTACHEDPatrice and Eli are looking at their phones, andshe says she's ^ _ _ ^ _ ^ ^ ^ _ him right now.He's pretty happy about that.

Googling Facebookfriending ; j onAmazon buying a gij

CULTURAL WâSTELANDim

LOGIC PUZZLE BYSTFPHFN RYDER/PUZZIEBARON.COM

WHO MÜDE WHICH ACQUISITIONS?FOLLOW EACH TRAIL TO FIND OUT:

Apple

Amazon

Google

Facebook

MAZE BY CHRISTOPHER BERG/AMAZEINC ART

OIHIF ILEI

4-

INVENTION »1Print from anywhere

Send text into the cloudand it spits out at theprinter of your choosing.

INVENTION *2Mobile air bag

When you drop a phoneor tablet, an embedded airbag depioys to save it.

INVENTION'SShopping spy

Software traci<s whereyou go on the web at ailtimes, so targeted ads canreach you later.

INVENTIONSOn-the-go pop-up ads

Software i<nows what storeyou're in and pushes rele-vant sales to your phone.

OWIIIISirPLEHIDING?UNSGMIIBU.THEN MRINGETHE CIRCLED lETIEIS.

EGHANCCMAE

OPTPTERYO

a."ACKLEIFNAYIDLICRT"

Œ]CIFNIHYFT

IDESTMRAVEO

HIDDi

OCUYRUCñlClllIEMñZOrSNEIHIIIITI?

10.63 = 197206021

1. What IS K?2.WharisA?

3. And, most important,what IS 19.7206021?

O I O W 1 0 PEOPLESPENO THEIR TIME ONEICEROOH?

27«

OPTIONS:

News feed

Profiles

Photos

Apps/tools

Everything else

•jsaa smou)i ujow pue ¡UJOOJA 3K%oi :5|ooj/sddv 'XU :50}0Md '%LJ -wmoid

'%SJ :3S|ä 6u!mAj3A3 '%¿j :p3aj smafj :9uiu itooqaiej H Aauoiu jo m^oms,aj!d a|pu!)| auo jo juaieAinba am jso| seq ji 'sajid aipuix ZL'bl 5||35 uozeuivaujn ÄjaAa puv :aJ!d a|pu!>i aqj joj aDud |!ejajs,uozBUJV '661$ 5! V -aJb a|pu!>i /v\auam ajruDejnueui oj JSOD am '£9 60S$ s! » :M»ew s,uo2euiv o A I a|ddv :36es-S3UJ uappiH "oapiA lueajjs S 'M3U| Aj jy t 'ji pa>|Dei3 A\\eu\j \ £ 'adAioiojd z

auieci I :3|quiei3s sitldw j a|ddv :5pe dndod t >|OoqaDed :Ads £

OROOGLE'SYOOTURELIIOIICHEROHIGINUCGNTENTGHINNELS-MINYOE WHICH GVERLIP. WHICH MOMINOCIH CHARNELS ARE EUE?

L '(ped!) 3 9 -(uozeiuv) q S '(Piojpuv) q V •()(ooqa3ed) D E '(ped!) e J'(a|ddv) 3 I :|U3ui3}e|d )]npoid a a|6ooo :jauu!M juaujjjedaa ajejs sjeaqa|ddv •>|ooqaDed sjEaq a|6ooo :punoj \eu\j Aausia sjeaq juaiujjedaa ajeis ladsjeaq aidcly uozeujv sjeaq )|ooqaDej yosojDii/M sjeaq a|6ooo :)3)|3ej8 luaui-euunox 3 auoLid >|ooqa3ed pajoujnj-ßuo| aqi Aipaijodaa S! Aj^na :>jooqa3edzzng a|ßoo9 Jo^ sew UMOi ODei :a|6oo9 a|pu!)j leinouo dm jo j se/v\ euoij :uoz-eiuv ( .lauiouojjsv peaH-iing JO VHa OJ aujeu apoD am paßueiiD a|ddv 'lan^l}S!sap-pue-asBa3 e luas ueßes) ooi.¿ 450iupe(Aj iaMOd am JOJ SEM ueßes M o:a|ddv :s3uieN »poo a ¡loo^ oi 'ßiaqja)|Dn2 d 'aßed 8 'sozaa L 'ß.isqja)|Dnz g•sqof 5 'sozaa f 'ßJaqja>|Dnz '£ 'aBe^ z 'sozag •|.:sqor aAajs v SJ3MSUV

1 CAR AND DRIVERTELEVISION"Driven to Extremes. Engag-ing content brought to youby three iconic brands-Car and Driver, Road S Track,and Popuiar Mechanics."

2VROOM!"High-octane entertainment,putting you in the frontseat for some of the fastestraceways in the worid."

3 MOTORTREND"Car and car-cuiture enter-tainment and information,inciuding tests, drives,and lifestyie."

4 DRIVE"The channei for real drivers,reai buyers, and reai enthu-siasts. If it's got wheels,you've got an opinion and wewant to hear from YOU."

1 MODERNMOM"A iifestyie channei forevery mom committedto a healthy life f iiled withiove and iaughter. WithBrooke Burke."

2 CAFEMOM STUDIOS"A lifestyie networkfor today's moms, withpersonai stories, parent-ing advice, and news.Featuring Andrew Shueand Suzanne Somers."

3 THE MOM'S VIEW"Provide(s) aii moms aplace to go to find contentthey can relate to."

4 MOM KNOWS BEST"Ten moms. Ten differentbackgrounds. Lots andlots of iaughsl"

so MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

IIFOB WALKINGTHETUK

.) ESPN analyst Trent Dilferhas a test to identify the alphaof the alphas among NFLquarterbacks: If four QBs arein the same car, who drives?In a mighty techmobile,Apple definitely has the keys—because where it goes, every-one follows. Siri may not havebeen introduced with a Jobs-ian public performance, butit dominated (and created)conversation ever since andprompted Amazon and Googleto snap up rival Siri technolo-gies. Think of it: They had tocompete in a space Apple justcreated. And in some places,the followers can barely keepup. The camera on the iPhone4S is so advanced that it alonewould have cost $500 just afew years ago; iPads dominatethe tablet market; Apple iswinning in greater China (12%of fiscal 2011 revenue, 400%better than the previousyear); and new CEO Tim Cookis reportedly bringing a morehumane leadership style. Untilsomeone outplays Apple, it'sthe starter.

nF0R800MI11I0NREISONSTOSHUE

-> Techies talk of Zuckerberg's• law, which states that everyyear, the amount of informa-tion people willingly sharewill double. It's rare for a singleperson—let alone someone soyoung, at age 27—to be cred-ited with shaping a fundamen-tal condition of our age. Butthe law isn't just a human urge;it's a response to Facebook'swidening, ever-inviting plat-form. This past year broughtmore sharing of music andnews, and a timeline of users'lives. More important are theleaked documents that indi-cate how lucrative all thatsharing is: Facebook may bemore profitable than Amazon,netting almost $1 billion off ofmore than $3 billion in reve-nue. Its success in displayadvertising will only intensifyits rivalry with Google. Weassign Facebook a few demer-its for its habit of overreachinginto users' privacy, apologiz-ing, and then only slightlyrolling back the offendingpolicy But then again, MarkZuckerberg knows we'll all justaccept it eventually.

nFOREXPINDINGITSHITIINEOP

'/f

-> Since returning to thebig office last spring, CEOLarry Page has created anexecutive brain trust—andnow they're transformingGoogle from a single productinto a diversified web power.YouTube's channel-centricmakeover reimagines cableTV in an unlimited bandwidthworld. Android helped part-ners sell more than 250 millionphones last year (earningGoogle an estimated $4 billionin mobile ad sales). Chromehas surpassed Firefox as thesecond-most-popular webbrowser (to Microsoft's), andGoogle- continues to be inte-grated deeply into all ofGoogle's products. Yet, there'scause for concern. The com-pany is beset by accusations-some of which it's had toacknowledge—of overzeal-ously favoring its own prod-ucts in its search results,moves that have attractedantitrust attention from Con-gress and the Justice Depart-ment. It begs the question;Can Google stop itself frombecoming Microsoft?

IIFORPUYINGTHEIGNGGñME

-^ Jeff Bezos's bald pate, trimphysique, signature cackle,and relatively rare publicappearances all work to buildmystique around Amazon'sfounder and CEO. Last year,his new initiatives—includingshort-read Kindle "Singles";Kindle Fire grabbing the No. 2tablet slot; the rapid expansionof Quidsi from diapers anddrugstore goods to pet sup-plies, toys, and groceries; andthe expansion of Amazon'sstreaming-video service toinclude CBS and Fox program-ming—burnished his vision-ary reputation. Bezos alsosuffered a few dings: KindleFire shipped with sluggishand buggy software; Amazon'spromotion of its Price Checkapp sparked a backlash; andits financiáis fell short ofexpectations. Unlike Apple,Amazon has yet to show it canprofit off both hardware andmedia sales. Amazon's deepermoves into tablets, bookpublishing, and streaming-media delivery are inspired.But right now, it's the leastalpha of the alphas.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER OUMANSKMARCH 2012 FASTC0MPANY.COM 81

Copyright of Fast Company is the property of Mansueto Ventures LLC and its content may not be copied or

emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.

However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.