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Great Powers are meeting in battle as we make phone calls, surf the Web and play games. The prize is intangible; we can't hold it in our hands, but we can hold it in our phones, and our computers.

It's been said generals prepare to win the previous war. Back in the 1990s Apple and Microsoft had to just sit and take it while any old kludgey third-party software could be installed, and make a mess all over their operating systems. They could only fight back through the mail with floppy disks, and later, CD-ROM.

The rise of the Internet coupled with the powerful generation of cell phones that came after the iPhone in 2007, finally offered Apple, Microsoft, and new-comer Google, the ability to control their destiny.

The iPhone, in my opinion, represents a kind of "before-and-after" moment. It settled the question of what was the "best" form-factor; it finally broke Microsoft's effective monopoly over the Internet browsing experience, and it turned the premium feature of WiFi into a ubiquitous feature, creating the conditions for constant Internet conectivity.

In a world where everyone is increasingly connected 24-7 to a network (the Internet), that world begins to look like a traditional computer network, with network administrators wielding control over the user's access. But in this case, who are the administrators? Are they the the phone carriers who sell people the phones on plans, or pay-as-you go? Technically, yes, but the company’s who control the operating system, hold the greatest power of all. Apple controls the iOS, Google, the Android operating system, and if any phones running the Window 8 phone OS are sold, then Microsoft will control those.

Faster iPhone! Kill! Kill!

Network administrators have to be able to reach into any or all parts of their network to quickly deal with a threat, such as a virus. All the big computer companies have admitted to having such a "kill switch" in their phone and desktop operating systems.

Steve Jobs admitted there was one in the iOS in 2008 (♦). Microsoft has included one in Windows 8 (♥). Google has already used theirs, in 2011,  to delete malware on 50,000 Android phones (♣). Even Amazon, way back in 2009 controversially used a kill switch on their Kindle (♠).

So this isn't the Wild West 1990s, when Apple had to stand by and fume, while Adobe's Flash plug-in caused so many Macs to crash so often. When Steve Jobs slammed the door on Adobe's mobile Flash, with Microsoft nodding in approval, in 2010, this was both a settling of accounts, and the start of setting things right.

Quality and quantity, together at last

Utter control of the user experience is part of ensuring customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty. Plus, Apple, for one, knows a bit about up-selling existing users.

The stakes and numbers involved, between Apple and Google are becoming positively planetary: Apple claims over 500,000,000 iOS devices sold -- that's half a billion. And, reportedly, cumulative shipments of Android devices top one billion. Of course, Mark Twain's observation concerning statistics applies.

So the legal see-sawing all over the planet between Apple and Samsung, isn't; it's always been Apple versus Google, for apparent control of the Earth. No idea who will win, but I Googled all these facts, and sources.