You may be right that Microsoft wants total control of everything that appears ON your computer/TV screen. But I do not think they want to control the manufacture of the actual, physical computer screen, nor of the physical means by which that computer is hooked up to the internet, nor of the physical conduit through which the information is transported, which is what an ISP is.
Recall that one of Chairman Bill's best friends is Warren Buffet, who hates capital-intensive businesses. Surely Chairman Bill gets advice from Warren when he needs it on this as well as other matters.
According to this article
herring.com
Microsoft says it has three main areas of business and wants to make media its fourth. Microsoft is moving UP the content food chain from software "plumbing" as Jim Barksdale calls it, to the "water" that flows through the plumbing. Owning an ISP, a wide-open, commodity business with no barriers to entry is a move DOWN the foodchain which just does not fit into that model as I see it.
Yes, Chairman Bill does have an interest in Craig McCaw's satellite venture. But, IMO, that's just so he can have access to a worldwide distribution network for the thing he really does want to control, which is the programming you see and use and think about.
If you read Chairman Bill's "little red book," "The Road Ahead," he says quite clearly that content is where the real money is to be made on the internet. I have no doubt that Microsoft's business strategy is in line with that view.
Sorry, but, no, I don't think Chairman Bill wants to own a bunch of expensive infrastructure that is a pain to maintain and low-profit to boot. I still think Microsoft will dump the ISP part of MSN and turn the rest into programming to be distributed by others, sort of a virtual network. Personally, I would applaud such a move. |
