Proposed Alternatives: “Spam Notice,” “Email Filter,” “Sequestered Email,” etc. Just a helpful suggestion to Microsoft, purveyor of the ubiquitous “Office 360” software suite, while everyone’s sensitivity is, shall we say, “heightened” at the moment: At least for the next several months, you may want to consider using a synonym for “Quarantine notification,” the message I...Read More
The Limits of QE (“Quantitative Easing”) I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around me Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday And I’ll get on my knees and pray We don’t get fooled again Don’t get fooled...Read More
The Microsoft Precedent What turned Microsoft from the preeminent company of the early Internet era (circa 1999) to a company that is now eclipsed by such juggernauts as Google, Apple, and even Amazon.com? One theory is that its focus on “legacy” products — operating systems and applications software — caused it to miss such innovations as Internet search, smart phones,...Read More
PointCast . . . Yahoo! . . . Groupon?? Insiders say a tentative deal was struck in which News Corp. would acquire PointCast for $450 million. But before the papers could be drafted, issues surfaced over PointCast’s revenue projections and the price tag, insiders say. The offer simply went away. –“PointCast, The Rise and Fall...Read More
Less Addictive Than Competitors’ Phones? “Less staring. More clubbing.” –Sales pitch, new Windows phone 7 Having let my post-election guard down a bit — fewer political commercials to screen — I unwittingly caught a glimpse of Microsoft’s TV ad campaign for its new Windows phone. Apparently, its message is that people who are so obsessed...Read More
Who Will be the “Google” of Wall Street?Anyone else feeling a sense of deja vu here? The last time a corporation — U.S. or otherwise — inspired as much sheer disdain, disgust, and outright hostility as Goldman Sachs does now was Microsoft almost 20 years ago. At the time, Microsoft was beginning to practically gush...Read More
