Posted on 02/05/2008 5:16:55 AM PST by Disturbin
Standing between a marriage of Microsoft and Yahoo may be the technology behemoth that has continually outsmarted them: Google.
In an unusually aggressive effort to prevent Microsoft from moving forward with its $44.6 billion hostile bid for Yahoo, Google emerged over the weekend with plans to play the role of spoiler.
Publicly, Google came out against the deal, contending in a statement that the pairing, proposed by Microsoft on Friday in the form of a hostile offer, would pose potential threats to competition that needed to be examined by policy makers around the world, a threat Microsoft disputed.
Privately, Google went much further. Its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, placed a call to Yahoo's chief, Jerry Yang, offering the company's help in fending off Microsoft, possibly in the form of a partnership between the companies, people briefed on the call said.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Shark to tuna: “Join me for dinner?”
“Publicly, Google came out against the deal...”
Had Google done that privately, perhaps their stock wouldn’t have plunged $22!!! If a capitalist idea makes perfect sense, a communist will always be against it!
What ever happened to anti-trust legislation? IBM and the Bell System were both ripped to shreds of much lesser infractions.
It’s it ironic that Google is crying about anti-competitiveness if Microsoft takes over Yahoo in one breath, but then offering to team up with Yahoo in the next breath? Wouldn’t a Google-Yahoo alliance be a bigger threat to competitiveness??
That’s what I was wondering. I relieve couldn’t beleive that Microsoft would think they’d be allowed to do this bid. Maybe they know more than I.
People woke up and realized that it was a stupid law.
Prepare for “improvements” in yahoo mail that include downloading an $80 app just to view photos.
I know I will sleep better knowing that Microsoft owns everything related to computing. < /sarcasm>
I’ve been using yahoo mail for a while, but what bothers me is every time I log out of mail, I end up at the home page which is chock full of disgusting news and celebrity rubbish.
? You mean like Windows Live Photo Gallery which, ummm, is free?
Exactly, it would be like McCain complaining about Romney trying to buy out Huckabee.
I wrote my own online photo app, so it won’t bother me :D
In the past, I used my own email app too, but I found out that all of my mail was being stored on a shared drive on a shared server, so security was out the window!
Unless there is documented evidence of Microsoft illegally tying their OS to their search engine in a way that prevents Google from competing (which would appear to be contradicted by Google's dominance in the market), anti-trust legislation wouldn't seem to apply.
They become a monopoly when they own everything or otherwise dictate every factit of computing. I don't see how it is necessary to to own all of the pies.
I don’t see Google as a good guy with a white hat on in this. Google’s too close for comfort relationship with the federal government has allowed it ot be labelled the Federal Googlement by many. Besides, Google has just as many inside deals and job outsourcing arrangements as Microsoft does and even Yahoo gave their blessing to the communist Chinese spying on users and filtering their search engine results. Actually, I rather see Yahoo remain Yahoo and not be gobbled up by either of these two internet giants, not because Yahoo should be immune from business acquisitions, but because there are already far too many lookalike Google and Microsoft internet applications, but only one Yahoo. For variety’s sake, I’d like to keep it that way. Also, if Yahoo became just another Google or Microsoft application, it would be rendered useless and meaningless and I would no longer use it as I have enough Google/Gmail and Microsoft/Hotmail accounts and web-based services.
If they could dictate every facet of computing they would definitely be a monopoly. However, Google is more dominant in the Internet search business than Microsoft, and it's hard to believe that Microsoft buying the struggling Yahoo would suddenly make them not only dominant, but able to control the market.
There are advantages to consumers to having a company extend it's expertise in multiple related markets. It cuts down the costs of development, and can help produce innovation, AS LONG AS THOSE MARKETS REMAIN COMPETITIVE.
Even if one company does become dominant in a market through innovation and competition, that isn't illegal unless they take illegal steps to prevent others from competing.
Strangely enough things that are considered normal competitive practices in a competitive market become illegal, anti-competitive practices for a company that is deemed a monopoly. Once a company is determined to be a monopoly, it's competitors can still engage in such business practices, while the monopoly cannot.
In the Microsoft antitrust trial company after company accused Microsoft of business practices that resembled their own business practices. Their argument was that they weren't a monopoly, so they were allowed, but Microsoft was a monopoly, so the government needed to step in and prevent Microsoft from doing those same things. They wanted the government to place additional restrictions on Microsoft so they had an advantage over Microsoft.
That left me with a rather low opinion of our anti-trust laws, and an especially low opinion of their enforcement by the Clinton administration, which was basically pushing socialism light through anti-trust law.
Heh, and what about .pdf files?
Used to be free w/ OS.
Vista? They charged me extra just to load it on.
Bill has a racket going.
Ummm, Acrobat reader is still free.
And if you have Office 2007 you can download a free “Save as PDF” add-in for Word, etc. And in Outlook 2007 you can download a free PDF attachment previewer.
Everything in Office 2007 that came with this computer was a “30 day trial” and will not let me access (or create) any new files.
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