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Re: [News] Cringely's Theory on a Malicious Microsoft Manoeuvre

____/ Jerry McBride on Sunday 17 February 2008 23:22 : \____

> 7 wrote:
> 
>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> 
>>> Cartoon: http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080215
>>> 
>>> Plan B: What if Microsoft doesn't really hope to buy Yahoo at all?
>>> 
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | But what if Microsoft wasn't serious about its offer? Well then things
>>> | start to get REALLY interesting.
>>> | 
>>> | Certainly Microsoft's offer for Yahoo has thrown that company and
>>> | several others into a tizzy. Yahoo can't be getting much work done,
>>> | that's for sure. And if you believe the press reports, AOL and News
>>> | Corp have been dragged into the strategizing, too, and are subject to
>>> | disruption. For Yahoo, as the primary target, overall efficiency in the
>>> | company will have dropped instantly by 20 percent just because people
>>> | will be talking at the watercooler rather than doing their work. And
>>> | Yahoo wasn't a very efficient place to begin with. This alone has some
>>> | value for Microsoft, where I will guarantee you the distraction is far
>>> | less.
>>> `----
>>> 
>>> http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080215_004309.html
>>> 
>>> Pay careful attention to the first reference below (it came just /days/
>>> before the bid). Cringley's (Mark's) message isn't so far-fetched.
>> 
>> If anything its ignoring some of the main issues as to why
>> micoshaft is doing what its doing.
>> 
>> Micoshaft is going into debt with share buy back,
>> price collapsing and revenues being sucked out their
>> crappy products by Open Office, Linux and the need
>> to comply with anti-trust rulings or face ever greater
>> fines.
>> 
>> Micoshaft now needs to sell the idea that it can have negative
>> bank balance without collapsing its share price.
>> Buying yahoo is the only way to do that.
>> It can blame its misfortunes on the sinking
>> caused by yahoo. But as it is buying yahoo at an undervalued
>> price, the whole thing will have a softer landing because
>> yahoo can be asset stripped to recover all that loss at
>> the expense of all that is yahoo and what those investors will
>> loose.
> 
> Thats the part I don't understand... The economy is stripping down right
> now, not building up. If msft did buy yahoo! with the hopes of at least
> selling it off in chunks to make back it's money... who in the world would
> buy the parts right now? It makes no sense... What does yahoo! have in
> assets? Some software, a bunch of servers a few buildings and... people...

The talented people will go to companies like Google. Some people already ditch
the company. Only the misfits will stay and take orders from the b0rg, which
ought to make Yahoo less reliable, less innovative and much more of a mess (a
waste of Microsoft's money). 

Yahoo is not a company whose main asset is tangible. It's the culture, the
people, the skills, the Web properties. Microsoft cannot buy these. Flickr
users would go; search queries would go down in terms of volumes; staff would
run away at the sight of a new CEO that resorts to patent terrorism against
FreeBSD (yes, that's inclusive) which the back room guys love.

The whole thing is insane. It's like an ugly rich man in his 70s (think
Marshal) who thinks that he can buy a 18-year-old (okay, not quite
Nicole-Smith) bribe and stay with her for a lifetime without getting ripped
off.

-- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

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