Microforum has called a special meeting to increase allowed options, Hmmm. Who wants to invest and help the company grow?
This is pure speculation remember.
Leader: An Online revolution without Microsoft.
zdnet.co.uk
AOL's takeover of Netscape Communications was, during a conference
call Tuesday evening, sold as the e-commerce event of the century.
E-commerce for anyone, anywhere, anytime...
Steve Case, AOL's much maligned CEO started off the call saying that
the agreement would take e-commerce to a "whole new level and
stimulate development of new Internet devices". Although neither Case
nor Jim Barksdale, Netscape's president and CEO, would be drawn on
what these devices would be or when they would arrive, one thing is
certain, Microsoft is the target of the alliance and Sun's Java is the
weapon.
Throughout the conference call, e-commerce was mentioned again and
again with assurances from the happy trio, that making the Internet
easier to use was a top priority. Persuading ordinary people to spend
online is what this deal is about and with the agreement all the tools are
in place.
Sun will do the hardware and defend against Microsoft with its
Java technology
Netscape will provide the browser, the enterprise and
commerce packages and the Netcenter portal
AOL will provide the fancy packaging and sheer weight of
customers that will make the dream a reality.
"This partnership... will make it easier for consumers and businesses to
participate fully in the Internet economy," according to Barksdale who
promised that companies wanting to participate in the revolution would
not have to worry about creating virtual worlds. It would all be
provided.
Experts agree that the deal will give e-commerce a much needed kick
up the rear and similarly that the trio will be working hard to keep
Microsoft as far from the action as possible. "You can expect to see
them pushing Pure Java on all sorts of devices Microsoft will be irked
to support," said one source who requested anonymity.
Andy Greenman, an analyst at the Yankee group agrees saying the trio
have formed the next "Terrible Empire" with a view to pushing
Microsoft into the peripheries with applications and devices it simply
will not support. Greenman said: "The whole message fits the 'write
once publish anywhere' plan which is now 'AOL anywhere' and very
definitely looks to exclude Microsoft." Greenman believes the tie-up
with Sun is the most significant part of the deal. " AOL will have all the
expertise to build a proprietary browser running on Java to carry AOL
content anywhere" he said "and yes, Microsoft should be worried."
For the consumer - that's anyone with a credit card and some spare cash
- AOL's intention is to control all the major portal sites, which in turn
means controlling the whole online experience. If the trio can move the
online experience away from Windows on the desktop the surfing
revolution could well be under way. "PC's are overly complex. In the
long term it is going to be some other interface that people use to get on
to the Internet" said James Eibisch, senior analyst at IDC.
AOL on a Microwave? Sounds like another villain on the Net to me.
Microsoft refused to comment despite several phone calls. |
