Talking of Beltway lobbying, what's your take on the showdown of Microsoft vs. US Gov.? Here's the latest:
dailynews.yahoo.com
As far as I know, it's a black day for the Jewish lobby... From now, nothing will preclude the Redmond-based juggernaut from developing its own blend of media materials --from TV broadcasts to internet newsmags to Hollywood to... That's always been a dreadful prospect for the media-powers that be: Messrs Eisner (Disney), Levine (aolTIMEWARNER), and the like. I mean, Gates will likely foster a more Transpacific worldview --more in tune with his own business interests. Don't expect a MSFT media venture to spin a Chink-baiting blockbuster a la Pearl Harbor LOL!
Here's a clue:
Grumpy Gates eclipsed by rising stars at Davos
Microsoft's boss blows his stack
Special report: the future of Microsoft
Ken Auletta
Friday January 12, 2001
The Guardian
books.guardian.co.uk
Excerpt:
In 2000, it was apparent that, unlike in prior years, Gates was no longer the magnet at this event. Earlier that year Steve Case's America Online deployed $165bn of its "invasion currency" to gobble up the world's largest media company, TimeWarner [*]. Case was the new rock star of Davos. It was Case that US secretary of state Madeleine Albright asked to be seated next to at a dinner Saturday night, and Case that King Abdallah bin al-Hussein of Jordan was seated beside Sunday night.
Case fielded most of the questions in Davos - as if the audience expected this from him. Gates seemed to sink back into his beige leather armchair, hesitant to contribute. Gates looked markedly older than he had the year before. His face was marked by more wrinkles, and the skin under his eyes sagged.
I asked Case if he sensed a shift of focus away from Gates. He acknowledged he was now "a little more" like a rock star and that the spotlight of celebrity now pursued him. "It goes with the territory," he said. He was also struck that Gates, with whom he's been on panels and attended conferences and had more than a few fractious negotiations, was "a little subdued. He seemed to be going out of his way to be more of a statesman."
Not for one minute, however, did Case believe Gates when he said Microsoft would stick to software. "It's highly likely that the destiny of our two companies is to duke it out for many years to come. We are wary of them. We don't see them as a software company. We see them as a to-the-death competitor. And they have determined, probably correctly, that if they want to be the most valuable company in the future they can't just be a software company."
If Gates really meant not to be in the content business, said Case, "then he would have divested MSN and Expedia and all those businesses that are not software businesses". It is second nature for Case not to take Gates at his word.
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[*] Actually, the whole AOL-TimeWarner merger should be viewed the other way around, that is, as a "Trojan-Horse" control of AOL by TimeWarner since the latter employs about 6 times as much people as AOL. Besides, Levine was appointed CEO of the new combo while Steve Case ended up as Chairman of the board... |
