There seems to be a shift in the Matrix. Where everything used to be personalized, the it all seems to shift towards some kind of cloud recently. You don't make personal websites anymore. It just doesn't count. Social networking is getting the upper hand and if you're not part of it, you're out.
Especially the rise of Twitter seems to have shifted this paradigm. Twitter is a great tool for celebrities to spread their word and oppinions quickly. On the other hand it's a great tool to get a vibe from the public. Just search for some tag and you'll see dozens of responses which will instantly tell you what people think.
Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to be going down rather fast. Failing to keep up with the browser market (IE8 still has many compatibility problems). And at the same time, the OS market, where their power used to be at, is slowly being taken over by PDA's. Not to mention Googles aspiration to take a piece of it. Still, I feel they're being torn apart by their own success. They are taking a beating again and again. Browsers, Operating System and now their beloved Office (Word can't be sold in the US atm).
But they're not the only ones. Apple's good reputation is being probed and reduced daily now, it seems, due to the Apple store. Denying apps to protect their own seems to have rather negative effect. I wonder if they were expecting that and if the hit in reputation was worth it...
Finally Google. The good-feeling company that can do pretty much anything. I wonder how long it will take before they're taken over by yet another company. It seems unrealistic right now, but the same was said about Microsoft a few years ago and look at them now. Google will at some point fail to keep up. The fact is inevitable, it's just a matter of when and why.