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Non-Tech : Amati investors -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pat mudge who wrote (30305)	1/21/1998 4:24:00 AM
From: Tom Anderson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 31386

I admit there are a lot of big players standing on the sidelines (LU, TXN and CISCO), but maybe that's because they were "blitzed" (sorry, it is Superbowl week here in San Diego) by Mr. Softie and a very savvy consortorium fed-up with the foot dragging telecos. Remember the special conference called last year by Mr. Softie at his lakeside abode? Obviously, the telecos didn't get the message, and "Wintel" is not going to standby and watch the cable companies bumble into a windfall by default. If I were in the competition's shoes, I would not pass this consortium off as some "trial balloon". They may not always have the best product, but they sure know how to make chicken salad out of.... well you get the picture. IMHO,what the consortium is proposing is nothing short of a massive swipe at controlling a major source of future information output that makes the current DOJ's concerns with Microsoft pale in comparison. What does this do to modem manufactures? ISP providers? Cable companies (I know, who cares about these scumsuckers!)? It's another beautifully orchestrated attempt at stiffling competition by controlling the marketplace with an announcement of an non-existant product. But this time Mr. Softie has an ace up his sleeve. He's in league with the arguably the leader in PC box manufacturing and the king of CPUs. With that kind of cash and clout, how long do you think the discussion will last as to standards? ADSL technology is in place; the public is in love with all things net and screaming for speed; Aware or Westell could be bought on the cheap and the consortium certainly has the brain power to avoid Amati's patents (for that matter the licensing costs would be nothing compared to the potential gain). What the remaining Amati shareholders ought to be wondering about is whether TXN will carry through with its acquisition given this development. This may be a case of second rate technology emerging on top. On the other hand, TXN might have inadvertantly bought into a private party with the acquistion of Amati. For you conspiratorial buffs, what if TXN was a shill for the real buyer? Hmmm? Would you put it past messrs. Gates and Grove to pull such a stunt? To carry conspiratorial theory to exterme, do you suppose this is a strategy designed to so infuriate the DOJ and Silicon Valley that they sacrifice Netscape to preserve the economic freedom of the information revolution. Tribute to the Hun at the gate, if you will. I love capitalism as long as I'm the driver's side of the steamroller. Pat, I think this announcement could have a more "chilling" effect on technological innovation in this country than the current monetary crisis in Asia. I don't think Wall Street, the politicians, nor the public have even begun to grasp the magnitude of this announcement, IMO. For those of you holding shares in Lucent or Aware, congrats! As to the rest, I have no opinion, but I'd like to invite comments from the brains that used to frequent this thread for one more round of their usual thorough analysis. You sure aren't going to get it from the Street until they have their ducks in order! Tom Anderson