The first half has a great write-up on MD. I like his joke about going INDIRECT. At least it "sounds" like he's joking.
Fez
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COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS
November 23, 1998, Issue: 818
Section: Overheard
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ShadowRam
It's amazing what happens when Michael Dell appears on the cover of CRN-No, hell didn't freeze over, but this year's top industry executive acknowledged the honor at a Comdex press conference, saying since he was CRN's cover boy, Dell was going to go indirect. When he saw the huddled mass of scribes writing furiously, he had to add he was only kidding. But after hearing some corporate integrators say they make more money selling Dell products than they do selling IBM, Hewlett-Packard or Compaq, I think Michael had it right the first time.
Maybe I should call it Dell's non-Comdex press conference. The company drew reporters over to the Las Vegas Country Club in lieu of a Convention Center, Sands, or Hilton venue. In fact, Dell did not exhibit at the show. And Mr. Michael pulled out of his planned keynote when it became clear that there were nine (count 'em NINE) keynotes, rather than the usual four. Microsoft's Bill Gates joked pointedly in his keynote that you needed a search engine to find all the speeches.
The CRN Hall of Fame party was star studded. When was the last time anyone saw Eckhard Pfeiffer and Michael Dell within 30 feet of each other? It still amazes me that they can both fit into Texas, but there they were, just a few seats away from each other. Other luminaries included Intuit's Scott Cook, Computer Associates' Charles Wang, pcOrder's Ross Cooley, Acer's Stan Shih, Lotus' Jeff Papows, Adobe's John Warnock, and others. All were there with bells on. . . .
For those of you who didn't rush out early to switch all of your accounts over to an online broker, Dana Carvey was a hoot. I'll never drink a Coke quite the same way again. And you haven't lived until you've seen a poor, beleaguered interpreter say "monkeys flying out of my butt" in American Sign Language.
But the showstopper was Hall of Fame inductee Steve Wozniak. Not only was he the gracious butt of many a Carvey joke, but he proved that this industry does have a heart and a soul. With all of the money he made from Apple, Wozniak now teaches elementary school kids about computers. Sometimes it really isn't about money.
But other times it is. In what has become a Comdex tradition, showgoers huddled every chance they got to trade ideas, rumors and even facts about which company is buying which. Word has it Avnet Inc., parent of midrange systems distributor Hall-Mark Computer Products, is interested in JBA International's distribution business. Other distributors looked at JBA but passed because the price was too high, said knowledgeable sources.
Virtually every channel executive at the show was crushed because, for the first time in years, IBM's Dave Boucher didn't host his channel party at Bally's. Now that he's shifted from channel sales to a logistical strategy post, he explained that think tanks have limited budgets.
I did enjoy Pfeiffer's keynote. The Compaq chief executive is sometimes accused of having no sense of humor, but when an animated on-screen Pfeiffer image accused the real Eckhard of being humorless-now that was pretty funny. At least Eckhard thought so.
Speaking of Compaq, it is trying to figure out a way to solve this large account rebate mess. With meet-competition-pricing rebates taking months to get back to the channel, Compaq will roll out a Web-based rebate system in January to speed up the process. That may fix things a little, but why don't the vendors just scrap the whole concept and price their products right the first time instead of messing with back-end rebates?
And departing from traditional keynote fare, Intel Chief Executive Craig Barrett joined Bill Maher, host of ABC TV's "Politically Incorrect," for a spoof of the satirical late-night talk show. The "Technically Incorrect" panel featured guests Esther Dyson, chairwoman of EDventure Holdings Inc.; television personality Bill Nye, the Science Guy; and comedian and magician Penn Jillette. When Maher asked the panel whether the Internet should be regulated, Barrett responded bluntly, "Keep the government out of our lives. Let parents regulate it." But when it came to the subject of Microsoft, Maher had no luck in prodding an opinion out of Barrett.
"Is Bill Gates a robber baron . . . or is he just a guy who's done better than other guys and they're jealous?" Maher asked.
Barrett paused. And paused some more. Then, he said, "As one who is facing a Federal Trade Commission issue, I will refrain from comment."
I didn't catch the Dennis Rodman/Carmen Electra wedding but did spy household diva Martha Stewart at the Microsoft party looking somewhat bewildered by all the technological hoo haw and hubbub around Mr. Gates.
And those who played hooky from the Gates keynote at the Hilton might have caught actor James Woods chowing down on Italian food right outside the auditorium with his tablemate, Seinfeld's J. Peterman.
Also, you didn't hear it from me, but there is no longer a love match between Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen and tennis pro Monica Seles. Apparently they have broken up. . . .
The wildest rumor is that a deal may be on again for CHS to buy Pinacor, now that's its becoming obvious that Merisel is determined to survive on its own. The new twist is that GE Capital may be involved with a CHS buyout of Pinacor. As described to me, the idea is that GE Capital could finance the CHS acquisition and then have Pinacor/CHS take over GE Capital ITS's distribution business. It seems just crazy enough and complicated enough to pique the interest of CHS boss Claudio Osorio. Of course, with the market improving, Pinacor could still opt to take the business public.
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