I was listening to TWiT #209 this morning. It really is a must listen to weekly podcast. However, I did find myself a little irritated when Leo and guests suggested Google is currently a monopoly and that Microsoft used to be a monopoly.

I believe they are simply referring to the majority of market share these companies own but I find the word is being used inappropriately more and more often.

It seems any large company owning a majority of it's market share gets flagged with the term. But owning a majority of any market is not a monopoly unless it maintains it's market share exclusively through legal privilege or a sort of outside controlled barrier to entry. Both of the companies mentioned operate in competitive markets. Consumers have multiple alternatives to both large companies.

I do understand the importance of competition and hope that more companies rise to compete against the Microsofts and Googles of the world. Competition almost always provides better experiences for consumers.