The Octopus of Microsoft Will Sing it’s Swan Song

What is the point of BING ? Brad DeLong notes that Microsoft’s web operations are losing amazing amounts of money, and asks how that is even possible.

Google notes that Bing sure seems to be using their product without attribution.
They made up words and then constructed google searches which gave results when asked to search for those words. Then they noted that Bing searches gave the same results, which, they claim exist as google search results and in no other way. I think that Bing had better run like a furry Turkey and hide all but two of its tentacles in a crevasse.

update: Shane Greenstein explains and criticizes. “using” was obviously not the right word. The right word, of course, was “mimic,” because (among other reasons see below) it is what Bing does.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Bing may be losing money and it may or may not be cheating, but it sure contains cool Octopus videos.

Many have seen the Octopus in a bottle (which briefly made page 1 that is www.msn.com).

But the Octopus mimic is much cooler.

<br /><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/super-stealth-octopus/1jr64ilwn?src=v5:embed:&#038;from=sharepermalink-v5:share:permalink&#038;fg=sharenoembed" target="_new" title="Super Stealth Octopus">Video: Super Stealth Octopus</a>

My view of the furry turkey on human legs is that the Octopus is pretending to be a detached sponge being carried on a current of water. The human running looks like bouncing off the bottom and not like sliding along the bottom (like an octopus) or swimming through the water (like an octopus). Or maybe predatory fish have senses of humour and are paralysed by laughter. It’s hard to fully grasp the subtleties of the mimic octopus’s strategy.

My prediction RE the “three or four” divers debating what the saw is that one day the four will come up, take off their masks, and discuss what the octopus was mimicking. Then three of them will remember that only three divers went down and wonder which one is the Octopus mimicking a diver.

My title expresses my theory that, someday soon, when it is the best way to scare off a predator, the Octopus will sing the famous “Swang Song.”