Fore to be bought by ASND or Sun? Mr. Katt rumor
Microsoft loves everybody except ...
By Spencer F. Katt
05.11.98
www8.zdnet.com
It's springtime, and love is in the
air. In the Big Apple, everybody
loves Microsoft, and Microsoft
loves everybody (except for the
government), as anyone attending last week's
well-choreographed pep rally would attest.
Microsoft's forced attempt at winning public sympathy did
nothing to change the opinions of Those That Would Slay
the Giant, the Power Meower believes. The whole scene
reminded Spencer of the fraternity review board meeting in
"Animal House," with the leader of the persecuted Deltas (as
played by Bill Gates) proclaiming, "I won't stand here and let
you disparage the United States of America!"
The only things missing were the Microsoft groupies'
hummed rendition of "God Bless America" as they walked
out single file and Dean Wormer (as played by Joel Klein)
shouting, "I'm not done with you yet!"
So why is it that a company that's so good at marketing is
failing miserably to save its own skin? One reason:
Microsoft's internal public relations folks, not its slick outside
PR firm, Waggener Edstrom, are running this show. Because
Wagg Ed doesn't have any type of client/attorney privilege, it
could be deposed by the court to testify against Microsoft.
So it's intentionally being left in the dark about the
Redmondians' strategy.
Across town at the Digital Unix lovefest, Bob Palmer was all
gassed up about what was probably his CEO swan song,
since he's expected to bail shortly after the Compaq deal is
done, pulling the rip cord on his golden parachute. But the
air of excitement Palmer tried to create over Compaq's Unix
commitment last week didn't keep sleepy-eyed Oracle CEO
Larry Ellison from nearly nodding off during an afternoon
Q&A session.
Most of the questions from the Digital faithful were directed
at Palmer and Compaq CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer, leaving Larry
alone with his thoughts, which obviously turned to catching
some Z's. Fortunately for all involved, Ellison snapped out of
it before most of the crowd could notice.
El Gato can relate: With Palmer and Pfeiffer refusing to
answer questions about any post-merger plans, there was
nothing to pique the Katt's curiosity. It wasn't until later that
the Mouser heard about a new advertising slogan planned
for the new Compaq/Tandem/Digital entity: "Time to
Solution." The premise, an insider told the Puss, is that the
combined company will be able to get to market faster with
the best solutions for customers. The Furball stifled another
yawn.
At NetWorld+Interop, in Las Vegas, the M&A rumors
churned nonstop. Fore Systems was on the tips of many
tattlers' tongues, with Ascend and Sun tabbed as two
potential buyers.
And Nortel, according to an insider, has its eyes on ArelNet,
an Israeli company that specializes in Internet fax and
telephony. Nortel wants to leverage ArelNet's technology
for voice-over-IP applications, the insider said.
Feline friends on the N+I show floor gave Samsung honors
for Most Obnoxious Booth Presentation. Several dancers
pranced around the stage in the booth, decked out in '70s
garb and belting out disco-era tunes rewritten to promote
Samsung's new networking products. A sample: "Boogie
oogie oogie with Samsung cable modems!" Said one
Rockwell employee: "They're customers of ours, so I can't
tell them to shut up."
Have a tip? Contact Rumor Central by phone at (781) 393-3700 or
via e-mail at spencer_katt@zd.com.
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