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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: djane who wrote (46621)	5/11/1998 7:11:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 61433

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. Send E-mail to PC Week \| Copyright notice