Barton: Microsoft couldn't do another Expedia
,----[ Quote ]
| Barton also mentioned Microsoft's recent $115 million purchase of Farecast,
| saying it was ironic that it was leaping back into the online travel space
| after Expedia.
|
| "It is a little ironic that they spun off Expedia in 1999, made (billions) of
| dollars off it. And then in 2008, they buy back Farecast," he said. "What is
| going on there? I think they are investing heavily in vertical search."
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/137894.asp
Microsoft building Blu-ray Xbox 360
,----[ Quote ]
| 360 degree turn, if the report is true
|
| Microsoft has contracted for Blu-ray-equipped Xbox 360 game consoles to be
| built, according to a Chinese report.
`----
http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5015
Still a lost strategy. They embrace Farecast (all based on FOSS) and Sony's
technology, if true.
Related:
Can Ballmer pilot Microsoft through a changed tech course?
,----[ Quote ]
| Can Ballmer steer Microsoft out of the roadblocks?
|
| The highly competitive Ballmer, you might say, is the man who cried "nice."
| And like the boy who cried wolf, no one believed him. The software giant's
| attempt to make nice with much of the developer community by opening up its
| APIs for key products was greeted with a jaundiced eye by regulators at the
| powerful European Commission.
|
| However sincere Microsoft's stated change of heart may be, it is becoming
| clearer and clearer that Microsoft -- which knows it has to change -- is
| still struggling to find a fresher path.
|
| What's a poor CEO to do?
|
| Now that Bill Gates has effectively left the building, Ballmer is free to
| transform Microsoft, a job made all the tougher by the enormous reservoir of
| mistrust the company has engendered over the years.
|
| Case in point: the open APIs. Microsoft will give its competitors free access
| to the application programming interfaces and protocols it uses to ensure
| interoperability between its own products, a very significant change in
| business practices.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/tech-bottom-line/archives/2008/02/microsoft_open.html
P. Graham: Microsoft is Dead
,----[ Quote ]
| A few days ago I suddenly realized Microsoft was dead. I was talking
| to a young startup founder about how Google was different from Yahoo.
| I said that Yahoo had been warped from the start by their fear of
| Microsoft. That was why they'd positioned themselves as a "media
| company" instead of a technology company. Then I looked at his face
| and realized he didn't understand. It was as if I'd told him how much
| girls liked Barry Manilow in the mid 80s. Barry who?
|
| Microsoft? He didn't say anything, but I could tell he didn't quite
| believe anyone would be frightened of them.
`----
http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html
|
|
