Thursday, February 14, 2008
They're getting hostile for Valentine's Day
Have you heard about the possible big marriage in the works?
Microsoft is wooing Yahoo. I guess woo isn't the right word. I don't think there is Valentine's Day greeting in the works. Microsoft is attempting a hostile takeover bid with an offer of $44.6 billion for the company. Yahoo for its part is playing coy with officials saying they will study the offer.
Meanwhile, Google is lobbying heavily in Washington to oppose the possible merger. Google reportedly has contacted other companies trying to get them to make counter offers for Yahoo.
Yahoo is a multi-service internet company that has its origins in the early days of the Internet. Which is Internet time in about 15 years. Go to the Yahoo Website and you will find it is a community with news, games, email, a messenger system and the second most popular search engine among other features. It is touted as the world's most visited home page. Don't believe it? Just ask Yahoo, that is what they say.
For all its power and traffic, Yahoo has been criticized for not being able to cash in properly on the number of people who visit the site. In the lingo of the Web, they haven't been able to monetize the eyes that view their material. Companies like Google have done a far better job of filling the corporate tiller.
Microsoft has seen the rise of Google and the online software features it has started to offer the public. Some of these features, like google documents, are becoming a threat to the Microsoft core business. The Microsoft office suite has been the company's best moneymaker. Google docs is an online feature that will be offering an off-line component. It isn't as sophisticated as Microsoft Office, but it offers enough to give the software giant a scare. Added to that the huge search engine capability of Google and you can understand why Microsoft wants to buy into the second largest player in the search engine field.
It is uncertain that the federal government will allow the marriage. But it is fun to watch these giants battle it out. What affect it will have on us little folk remains to be seen.
In another Internet corporate world move, Amazon.com has bought Audible.com. I personally find this of great interest because I have become a huge fan of audio books. I listen to all kinds of fiction and non-fiction stories on CD and MP3 players while commuting and on trips. Amazon has greatly expanded its digital download service in recent years. The Apple iTunes store also have a massive library. Audible provides material for both.
I plan to talk more about audio books in future columns. It is a fascinating media that had its origins in the effort to provide books for the blind. I remember seeing early examples of that while visiting my great grandmother back in the 60s. She had lost her sight as she aged and had a record player beside her bed that she used to listen to books on long-playing records.
Many of the early examples were simply read and a recording made. The medium has progressed to where there are now professional readers who make a polished presentation. Many of these readers have developed a following and people buy or rent audio books based on who the reader is as much as who the author is. I've recently listened to works by Stephen King and Ian McEwan.
The King work was his most recent offering "Duma Key" while McEwan's work was the novel "Atonement" which is also out in a movie form. "Atonement is read by Jill Tanner. "Duma Key" is read by John Slattery. Both provide a theatrical flare to the performance that enriches the listening experience.
More on this and other material in future columns.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com.
Microsoft is wooing Yahoo. I guess woo isn't the right word. I don't think there is Valentine's Day greeting in the works. Microsoft is attempting a hostile takeover bid with an offer of $44.6 billion for the company. Yahoo for its part is playing coy with officials saying they will study the offer.
Meanwhile, Google is lobbying heavily in Washington to oppose the possible merger. Google reportedly has contacted other companies trying to get them to make counter offers for Yahoo.
Yahoo is a multi-service internet company that has its origins in the early days of the Internet. Which is Internet time in about 15 years. Go to the Yahoo Website and you will find it is a community with news, games, email, a messenger system and the second most popular search engine among other features. It is touted as the world's most visited home page. Don't believe it? Just ask Yahoo, that is what they say.
For all its power and traffic, Yahoo has been criticized for not being able to cash in properly on the number of people who visit the site. In the lingo of the Web, they haven't been able to monetize the eyes that view their material. Companies like Google have done a far better job of filling the corporate tiller.
Microsoft has seen the rise of Google and the online software features it has started to offer the public. Some of these features, like google documents, are becoming a threat to the Microsoft core business. The Microsoft office suite has been the company's best moneymaker. Google docs is an online feature that will be offering an off-line component. It isn't as sophisticated as Microsoft Office, but it offers enough to give the software giant a scare. Added to that the huge search engine capability of Google and you can understand why Microsoft wants to buy into the second largest player in the search engine field.
It is uncertain that the federal government will allow the marriage. But it is fun to watch these giants battle it out. What affect it will have on us little folk remains to be seen.
In another Internet corporate world move, Amazon.com has bought Audible.com. I personally find this of great interest because I have become a huge fan of audio books. I listen to all kinds of fiction and non-fiction stories on CD and MP3 players while commuting and on trips. Amazon has greatly expanded its digital download service in recent years. The Apple iTunes store also have a massive library. Audible provides material for both.
I plan to talk more about audio books in future columns. It is a fascinating media that had its origins in the effort to provide books for the blind. I remember seeing early examples of that while visiting my great grandmother back in the 60s. She had lost her sight as she aged and had a record player beside her bed that she used to listen to books on long-playing records.
Many of the early examples were simply read and a recording made. The medium has progressed to where there are now professional readers who make a polished presentation. Many of these readers have developed a following and people buy or rent audio books based on who the reader is as much as who the author is. I've recently listened to works by Stephen King and Ian McEwan.
The King work was his most recent offering "Duma Key" while McEwan's work was the novel "Atonement" which is also out in a movie form. "Atonement is read by Jill Tanner. "Duma Key" is read by John Slattery. Both provide a theatrical flare to the performance that enriches the listening experience.
More on this and other material in future columns.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com.
# posted by Richard Polk @ 10:31 AM 
