I've mentioned before that my two major hobbies in life turned out to be my two main professions: music and technology. In a way this perfectly expresses my own opposite natures and perhaps the duality that we all have within us.

This tendency toward polarity seems to be a principle common among all things in our world. In nature, it's often called reciprocity or symbiosis, two opposite expressions of this principle, in fact. Surprisingly, it is commonly found in the tech world as well. Technology companies seem to always pair off into opposites to compete with each other.

Let's take a look at some tech opposites to see how it works there.

Since I began using computers in 1984 the first instance of our discussion I was aware of was the competition between the IBM PC and the recently released Apple Macintosh. Apple had been successful in the computer business for some time when IBM released its first PC system, and the IBM model which included Microsoft's MS-DOS or Disk Operating System quickly became the standard for home computers, especially for business users. The Apple computers remained popular among hobbyists but it was obvious that the company needed to innovate or go away in the face of IBM's success. So the Mac was born.

Over time, the IBM and clones who also used Microsoft software battled Apple, each providing an opposite approach to computing. The Mac used the mouse and desktop metaphor developed at Xerox PARC research, and the PC's used MS-DOS, a clunky but useful command based system. As we all know Microsoft developed Windows and the PC moved toward the Mac's way of doing things. Today Microsoft and Apple still battle, with IBM long gone from the personal computer business.

Microsoft dominated Apple for years, but now Apple is a tech giant, dominating in music players and cell phone technology, some would say. They are still opposites and still competing fiercely and we are the better for it.

Microsoft is presently pairing off with another powerful opposite opponent these days, Google. Google has dominated search for years. Microsoft recently released its Bing search engine, and for the first time it appears they are poised to really compete with Google. As I write, it has been rumored that they are doing a deal with both Facebook and Twitter to provide real-time search of the posts from those two services. If this works, Bing may be poised to truly compete with Google for the first time. Google is of course working on real time search options as well, so these opposite approaches will make for interesting study.

Today, the most obvious set of opposites to my mind would be Facebook and Twitter. These are the giants of social networking, and it's interesting to see how they are so different and yet moving slowly to become more like each other.

I use both daily and they do provide an opposite experience for any user. Facebook, in my opinion, has a touchy-feely approach, especially since you must accept someone as a Facebook friend before they can subscribe to your posts. Twitter on the other hand is a free for all, as you can follow the posts of anyone you choose. Users can of course have access to tools that help prevent abuse, just as on Facebook.

Twitter is like an Old West boom towns, while Facebook is the proverbial quaint village on the hilltop, so to speak. I find that I feel very strongly both ways, as Billy Martin is reported to have said. I can't help but love the Facebook way of creating and participating in a tight community, but Twitter is so valuable and useful that it has its own aura. You can be sure I'll be using both of these excellent and opposite services for a long time to come.