RE: the beta test:
I have a feeling everyone was invited and it was done in a way to make us feel we were part of an exclusive group so that we would use it.
It has never been clear what the arrangement is between Browsemaster and SI. I have always felt that it was owned by SI and done separately as a way to get income from us, and that was the reason for the refusal by SI to put the Browsemaster features on SI.
I think the next step in these types of threads will be an "Invitation only" service, or "trial basis". A type of private club. We are really doing that on this thread now, in a modest way.
RE: Microsoft
Tef, I know, from personal experience, that anti-trust and natural (non-cohesive) Monopolies are the most misunderstood Political subject in this country. People, who are otherwise rational, just refuse to understand the subject. I can get agreement, or at least understanding, on all other "Libertarian" points from people except on this one. So, I don't discuss it on these threads. This subject can ruin a thread, IMO. Politics and Religion just can't be handled rationally here. I believe that most people on this thread have seen the endless arguments about this on the other threads, and have left it alone for that reason. The only way to handle this here, IMO, is to strictly deal with it as a stock price problem. But, I "Feel your pain", baby!
On this subject, the LA Times Editorial today called for softy to be required to license the source code. I don't like to see them being forced to do anything, but, if this did happen, it could be a blessing in disguise. Now don't jump me, I am not in favor of it, but it is a solution that seems to be in favor at the moment. From our standpoint, I think that solution could cause the stock to go up 75% by year's end, to a double for the year.
RE: Qualcomm
Lots of "Yak-Yak" about Siemans buying the phone division, but all rumors at this stage. The main thing I am looking at is the short position, which I understand to be the biggest of any company out there right now. With the 400% run-up, and the lack of understanding of what is going on with Q, this is natural. If they did not hit earnings in July, we would get a 50-point drop, IMO. However, all indications I am hearing say that they will beat earnings substantially. This would cause it to run up 50 points, with the short squeeze, IMO. I believe we are dealing with the book's explanation of the misunderstanding of a Gorilla by the Market. Hope I am right!
RE: Cisco
Very interesting situation.
We may have to take a new look at Cisco's "Gorilla" position. Are they developing a new one? They are the "niche" Gorilla of ERP packet based Internet connections. Are they in the process of becoming a Gorilla of the whole hard-wired based communication business? Is Packet based communication going to replace ATM? If so, have they got such a lead going that it will give them a lock?
I have seen the endless arguments from the Engineers on the Cisco thread about this. We won't solve the technical argument here, but lets look at the marketing one. I see no scientific reason why the packet based reliability problems can't be solved. It engineering that will happen, eventually. Of course both systems will co-exist for a long time. My only fear in bringing this subject up is that it might cause a migration of tech types from the Cisco/Lu/Nortel threads. I this starts to happen, I will stop discussing it on this thread.
All the companies involved, Cisco, LU, Ascend, Fore, Nortel, etc, are going to get rich, but I think Cisco is going to get richer than the rest by a big margin. Companies are going to go with Cisco because they know that data is where it is at, and that is Cisco's bag. If I were selling a total solution to a network problem, I would rather be peddling Cisco, IMO.
I am sure there are many who would not agree with me. I think this subject is worth a lot of discussion here. We may have a "Double Gorilla" developing.
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