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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Teflon who wrote (18811)	3/25/1999 11:50:00 AM
From: Daniel Merchant	Respond to of 74651

Where do you see MSFT after the split?

To: Teflon who wrote (18811)	3/25/1999 11:59:00 AM
From: RTev	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I too admire Armstrong for what he's done with AT&T and for his vision of where the company needs to go. The only disagreement is that I don't see the "no-brainer" natural fit in broadband between T and MSFT that you posit. I think we'll continue to see the two develop alternate solutions for some time. Why? -- antitrust. Combining RoadRunner and @home would probably not make it past the FTC (which is charged with preventing the creation of monopolies through acquisition). If it did, then the current hands-off FCC approach to the market would probably shift to more active regulation -- something AT&T dearly wants to avoid. -- partnerships. Microsoft has been a partner in RoadRunner from the beginning. It may be a headless company, but it rests on some broad shoulders. I doubt that Microsoft would want to dilute its influence by becoming a smaller partner in a bigger organization. If Comcast opts for RoadRunner, then it will be on equal footing with @home. That's good enough for a nascent industry like this one. -- control. The two companies are in very different businesses, but a significant corner of their interests converge in broadband. The two seem to interpret that convergence differently. It looks to me like Microsoft's vision of how that convergence should play out gives Microsoft more power over the network than AT&T is willing to give up at this point. -- who needs whom? Always a significant question in such discussions. I don't see that either one needs the other one right now. Microsoft has important partnerships in broadband that will give it the ability to roll out Microsoft "solutions" to enough people that those software-centric solutions will have a chance of becoming standards. AT&T owns enough of the market and has partnerships that will let it focus on its network-centric solutions which will have a chance of becoming standards.

To: Teflon who wrote (18811)	3/25/1999 12:20:00 PM
From: Sonki	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Microsoft, Softbank in joint venture Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and Softbank Corp. Wednesday said they'll create a Japanese version of the MSN CarPoint online service. The auto-shopping tool will be distributed through MSN Japan and Yahoo! Japan, starting in the fourth quarter. "The Japanese version of CarPoint will give auto manufacturers and dealers the opportunity to showcase their products and services to over 80 percent of the Internet audience in Japan," said Microsoft's Bill Gates. Initial capital of the new company will be $7 million, with 50 percent of its common stock owned by Softbank, 40 percent by Microsoft and 10 percent by Yahoo! Japan. Softbank chairman Masayoshi Son will be CEO and president of the new company. ABC, AOL join for drug prevention The director of the White House office of national drug control policy announced two online areas to deliver anti-drug information and resources. ABC's Freevibe.com includes entertainment news, and information about teens' interests, such as what's up in Hollywood, what's new at the movies, and what's hot at the music store. In addition, the AOL Parents' Drug Resource Center was created with Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It provides resources for parents and other adults to help identify and recognize kids who are at risk of drug abuse or using illicit substances. New Microsoft browser makes splash Microsoft (MSFT) said its barely week-old browser has been downloaded a million times. The company said the number of transfers of its Internet Explorer 5.0 was more than three times the volume after the previous version was released. Microsoft said the download count was only on its Web sites, and did not include those from more than 100 other sites also offering it.