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Microsoft to Buy Stake in AOL
NetDanzr writes "According to various sources (Bloomberg, Reuters, CNet), Microsoft is in talks with Time Warner to buy a stake in AOL. While the size of the stake or its prize has not been disclosed yet, Bloomberg speculates that this deal would profit both companies. Microsoft would profit from merging the AOL portal with MSN, as a strategy to catch up with his rivals in this space Yahoo and Google, while Time Warner would gain some ammunition in its fight with a renegade shareholder, Carl Icahn. According to CNBC, AOL is just about to turn the corner and is currently the most undervalued division of Time Warner."
this is incredible.
are you guys going to make some jokes about this?
this marks the end!
What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
Finally putting the two largest scum of the earth together!!
Now hopefully, we can get rid of them both when this fails.
Why wouldn't a statement come from CNBC declaring this to be a good purchase? It is from such an unbiased source after all.
This is the single most terrifying news I've heard all week. I'd almost... no, I WOULD prefer an asteroid the size of Texas hurdling at the Earth.
Just when you thought the world was safe, evil and evil unite. Been nice knowing you guys. I'm off to read "revelations" to see what's about to go down.
Does this mark the end of netscape???
MSN is not used by more than a handful of people as Google and Yahoo have been doing it better and cover both the cluttered and non-cluttered interfaces (whichever you prefer).
And AOL has been steadily losing members.
Sounds like a match made in heaven.
Back to IE again?
I realize it's not a big deal, but it's something worth discussing I think.
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
I thought the curse of the zombies was bad enough - now they'll be able to take over the world. Was the internet not bad enough already?
I wonder if this deal has been in the making for a while - it would explain why AOL decided not to use Gecko.
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
--Aristotle
Two great things that... uhh... nevermind.
More probably, buying into AOL is a good way for Microsoft to ensure that AOL never abandons IE for Mozilla...
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
Now Microsoft will get what Time Warner got, and they'll get it good and hard.
**insert favorite profound quotation here**
No good could possibly come from this.
I don't reply to ACs
MS A/S/L 1.0 will be crap, MS A/S/L 2.0 is where IT professionals will jump on board.
Task Mangler
Given AOL/Netscape's prime role in Mozilla development, I'd suggest this might be a nice plan to slow down the opposition, too. Yes, the Moz Foundation is independent, but the last time I checked, many of the dedicated coders are still AOL employees.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
I don't use AOL, I don't use MSN ... I hardly even use instant messaging ... I just browse with Firefox and use email.
I hear about how AOL is a major corporation and I wonder ... how? why? I hear that MSN and AOL are apparently merging, and I wonder ... how does that affect me? Why do people care?
Really ... just ... don't ... get it. What am I missing?
Sam
Does this mean that AOL will never complete its planned switch from IE to the browser it owns (Netscape)?
Best Buy can have you arrested
Sperry Univac merged with Burroughs at the end of the mainframe era and how that merger turned the mainframe business around ???
It's like all of the stupidity and evil on the web is forming together like some sort of monopolistic Voltron.
Does this mean Google is going to build a giant robot to compete?
Seriously, I haven't had enough coffee yet for this news, and it's before noon, so I can't hit the booze just yet.
~EEE~
Is this an example of two wrongs not making a right?
Yeah, most see it being worth about $1 total, but it's really worth $1.25...
Is this really a big deal? AOL crap has been installed with MS OSs forever. They have similar feels to them...the only difference is that AOL didn't have something they could achieve lock-in with.
Two desperate monster giants of the 90's that might have been able to save each other if they paired up a decade ago. MS is nearing the top of their own hill, and will be going down from there. AOL has been going down for a while. They probably think that by combining their dirt, they can both start going up again - they're wrong. Product placement isn't the problem, it's the product itself
While the size of the stake or its prize has not been disclosed yet...
What? Does a prize come in the box when they buy it? I would not call owning a piece of AOL a "prize".
Microsoft and AOL. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy...
But Microsoft buying AOL would make a company more eval than.. (remember M$ is already the most evil company, or was it Google nowadays?)
No More AOL CDs would have send the Millions CDs to Redmond then...that would be fun indeed.
I can't wait for my AOL CD with Windows Vista trial on it.
Hmmm...merging MSN and AOL....
L'MOANS
SLAMON
SALMON (mmmm...tasty web portal)
MAN-LOS
MOLSAN (mmmm...brewed web portal...but subject to trademark fight...)
-- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
I do not see how MS buying AOL stock is going to change ANYTHING at all in the Mozilla Foundation.
They are self-sufficient, independent and have been since at least the start of FireFox.
I think there are more programmers working in google then in AOL.
Indeed! Microsoft is putting a stake through AOL!
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Profit is all they want!
This isn't a demo vs rep issue. This is the public not realizing that either party has their best interest at hand.
AOL is just about to turn the corner and is currently the most undervalued division of Time Warner
Wasn't the fact that AOL was terribly overvalued what allowed them to merge with Time Warner in the first place?
Might be just the beginning of what Ballmer promised?
A negative plus a negative equals a negative
So, what's the problem? At least now i can combine my 2 largest sources of spam into one!!
You can fool some of the people all of the time
Disclaimer: English is not my 1st language!
ROFL!! WHOAHAHA!!!
i refox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=attri tion.org+aol&btnG=Zoeken&meta=
This is just too much, I am in stitches..
Just have a browse through the good ol barrel a laughs..
http://www.google.nl/search?hs=9Xu&hl=nl&client=f
This will be a perfect match for those who use MSN and/or AOL daily.
When I heard the news I literally laughed out loud.
I mean, AOL still markets with those grossly ineffective CDs. My 84 year old mother (and about a dozen of her friends) received a round of these coasters just last week at their retirement community. The AOL envelope had to be delivered to their door (who knows why). She asked the concerge who handed her the envelope, "What do I do with this." He replied, "You toss it in the trash bin."
What is MS thinking? M$ should focus on the business world where they can bully people into doing what they want them to do.
The moment the new combined AOL/MSN portal goes online, it will generate a vortex of suck large enough to consume the entire solar system, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of waveforms and probabilities.
Technoli
All of these little competing applications will disappear in short order...
Time Warner will own Bill Gates just like they did Ted Turner and Steve Case. Check the old headlines. Ted Turner "thought" he was buying Time Warner. AOL "thought" they were buying Time Warner. Now look who's in control.
All I can say is watch your back Gates.
So when will Gates announce that AOL is "part of the operating system"?
[Insert pithy quote here]
...but MSN is used by more than a handful of people.
Oracle buys Siebel.
eBay buys Skype.
Ballmer: (to Bill via bad cell phone connection) Billy-boy, what are we going to do? They're getting more press than us this week.
Gates: Eh? Oh hell! ( as he spills his coffee on his lap and hangs up)
Ballmer: Well, ok if you say so.
I first read that post as "Why wouldn't a statement come from CDC declaring this to be a good purchase?"
I mean sure, Microsoft is bad... and, erm, so is AOL... and, umm, well- wait a minute, can we get a statement from the CDC about this? I sense a plague of *epic* proportions.
Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness
This is not finalized. I'm wondering how this will play into the Antitrust settlement too. I don't see where this gives M$ a toe-hold into Google and Yahoo's search dominance. I CAN see where this give M$ a captive audience of sorts, but they had most of this people at "Hello" when they bought their Dell/HP/Compaq PC with Windows included. People are resetting their home page away from MSN.COM for a reason! It SUCKS! No one is saying, "MSN that and you'll find a page about..." People are killing MSN Messenger's autostart for a reason! IT SUCKS! People are moving away from AOL, why? IT SUCKS! They will gain some users but I'm far more suspicious of what this does to Netscape and Firefox than anything else. I'd think someone would drag them into court if they were too overt about killing off competing browsers...again. Who knows?
AOL'S TIME IS UP By TIM ARANGO In a deal that would unite two of America's corporate giants as partners in the Internet business, Time Warner is in advanced discussions to sell a stake in America Online to Microsoft, The Post has learned. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Time Warner is in talks with Microsoft about selling the stake in AOL and then combining it with Microsoft's Web unit MSN. Under the plan being considered, Microsoft would pay some money to Time Warner for the AOL stake, leaving the two companies approximately equal partners in the venture. While the deal could fall apart, the companies are hopeful they can wrap it up within the next couple of months. Talks are most advanced with Microsoft -- Time Warner management's preferred partner -- but the media giant has also had discussions with both Yahoo! and Google over a sale or venture with AOL, according to a source close to Time Warner. Time Warner's inclination to partner with a large tech company suggests that even if AOL's most recent strategy of becoming a free portal is successful, it may not be enough to keep the unit within the Time Warner fold. While AOL began testing the portal in June and has won plaudits for the quality of its videos and other features, the company has yet to make a big marketing push, even though it promised one by the end of August, noted Rich Greenfield, an analyst at Fulcrum. Greenfield, who said it's too early to judge whether the portal strategy is a success, believes Time Warner should wait before making a decision on the future of AOL. "I think it's too early for it to be sold or spun out," he said. AOL has seen the number of subscribers decline from 26 million in 2003 to fewer than 22 million now, as users fled AOL's dial-up service for broadband. Its portal strategy -- a reversal of its prior focus of offering exclusive content -- puts AOL in direct competition with Yahoo!, MSN and Google. The AOL discussions come as Time Warner management has been reviewing numerous strategic moves to boost the company's share price. And as other media companies such as Viacom work out plans to break apart after years of consolidation, Time Warner is likely to be a starkly different company a year from now. In addition to a likely AOL move, some or all of the company's cable unit will finally be spun off early next year. Beyond that, sources close to Time Warner's management say that Time Inc., the company's publishing unit, could be sold or spun off sometime next year if its performance doesn't improve. In addition to the strategic moves, Time Warner's Don Logan, who shares the No. 2 executive duties at the company with Jeff Bewkes, is expected to retire in 2006. Since the disastrous merger between Time Warner and AOL in 2000, about $200 billion in shareholder value has been wiped out. Until this year, company management had been hamstrung by fraud investigations by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, but those probes were settled for $510 million. Time Warner's Chairman Dick Parsons later put aside some $2 billion to settle shareholder litigation. Meanwhile, the company has been targeted by corporate raider-turned-shareholder-activist Carl Icahn, whose group has been amassing a stake in Time Warner and pushing for seats on the board of directors. http://www.nypost.com/business/28069.htm
I think AOL is more of a Tar Baby than a Death Star style weapon of ultimate power.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
AOL browser IS still built atop IE. There are some fancy interface changes, but its IE "technology" Occasionally AOL threatened to use other browsers, but its never followed through.
http://downloads.channel.aol.com/browser
... imagine all the possibilities. Your speakers could be shouting "you've got infected" or "You have to update windows / Are you sure you don't want to update Windows ?" every 5 minutes !
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
Microsoft sees its future in the media distribution/licencing business - hence so much R&D of their proprietary secured codecs for audio and video.
AOL is presently owned by Time Warner
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
This could be viewed as Microsoft making a bid to buy Netscape. Remember that AOL owns what is left of Netscape. This of course, includes the FireFox browser as well.
So beyond the anti-trust issues surrounding a joined MSN-AOL portal / service, is the issue of Microsoft potentially owning at least a stake in the major browser that competes against Internet Explorer. Also, it is important to note that partial buy-outs are often precursors to complete buyouts.
``You've got assimilated''
leaving the two companies approximately equal partners in the venture,
EQUAL!?
[/hyperventilates]
Does this means that most new computers will be shipped with not only Windows, Explorer, Windows Media, MSN, (etc) but now with AOL crap which is notorious for not being easilly gotten rid of?! GAAH!!!!
imagine if you will: the millions upon millions of MS users who are now ------[dramatic cadence] AOL USERS [Dun Dun DUN!]
AOL's lousy service plus M$'s lousy software, all forced upon corporations = $$$ for the consultants who will have the misfortune of making it (at least attempting to)work.
Current Fortune Cookie: Danger! Dragon in Flight!
No electronic village will be safe during these dark times.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
...to the post-iceberg Titanic. When they get there, they'll start selling lifeboats.
Voila, an MSN almost the population of AOL.
Unless Bill is simply tired of actually lighting his money on fire, this seems to be a fruitful motive.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
+1 Question
How does this simple question get marked so insightful. Anytime someone mentions anything about any browser people pop-up the question that includes "end of netscape?"
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
...free Windows CDs for everyone?
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
Can a convicted monopolist (and a predatory one at that) buy even a share in a competing company??? Surely not?
--Murray Barton
everyone will merge with everyone.
Java Oracle Linux Enthusiast
What, the SCO thing didn't work out?
GE is selling CNBC to the News Corporation. Rupert Murdoch was quoted as saying, "CNBC would fit in nicely with our current network, Fox News. As always, we strive to deliver the most biased and unreliable news while also causing a record number of seizures due to our over-elaborate marketing devices."
"It's the only thing you can use, no wonder it's #1"
AOL is just about to turn the corner and is currently the most undervalued division of Time Warner
What a turnaround, it can't be more than 2 years since I was reading that AOL was the most overvalued business ever sold or bought.
Does this mean that even with the dot-com bubble burst, and with rumours of a new comms 'super-bubble' on the horizon, analysts STILL consider AOL as worth more than the music & the films & the TV?
Between AOL And Microsoft, They have a monopoly on both two letter and three letter internet acronyms, AIM, MSN, IE, WIN, OE, IM, You've Got Mail...etc. There will soon be no room for further acronyms and they will have taken over the internet!!!
AOL already use IE, and really, Mozilla isn't a threat to Microsoft right now; IE still has 90% of the market or thereabouts.
No, I predict that if this goes ahead, AIM is gradually killed off to be replaced with MSN, giving Microsoft instant monopoly control over instant messaging--and heading off the threat of Google Talk helping to open up IM.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Obligatory new name reference : AhOLe-soft
Seems fitting...
#include bier;
Just be thankful that the Mozilla Foundation is independent of AOL.
boakes.org
Does this mean it will now be fashionable to use both Windows and AOL cd's as coasters??
Or even for frisbee golf!!!
I got nothin'
Microsoft already has a dominant position in the dissemination of evil in the computer industry. By teaming up with AOL, they would have almost a complete monopoly in this area (especially as The SCO Group will soon be history). This tie up must be blocked unless either Microsoft or AOL commits to give up being evil.
Microsoft isn't satisfied with the worst portal in the world. Now they want to buy the 2nd worst to guarantee their position.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
How the hell haven't they gone out of business yet?!
A wise man once said, "wtf h4x."
While the size of the stake or its prize has not been disclosed yet... Congradulations, you've just bought AOL! Roddy, tell him what he's won!
Sony ha
When this partnership is complete, there will be no way to pretend that the US protects the market from monopolies and cartels.
FWIW, I've learned from past flames I've received, which were predicated on the fallacy that vendors must have no competition in the market to be monopolies, to abuse their monopoly status. I've learned that people misunderstand the term "monopoly", and are even less likely to understand a cartel. Before you go down that pernicious road, I recommend you read the Supreme Court's Findings of Fact in the Microsoft monopoly case, which include "Microsoft enjoys monopoly power" (section III, paragraph 34). The Wikipedia "Cartel" entry can clarify how multiple competitors can collude to control a market at the expense of consumers.
--
make install -not war
Oh great! If this happens we may see the popup window ravage the desktop at all times. When you first sign in to Windows you may now get to see multiple credit card offers and all sorts of popup ads. Not to mention when you log off windows wouldn't let you shut down until the AOL portion of software imbedded has received all of it's needed updates!
Damn the Machine!
Generation Trance: What generation are you?
Probably a nice investment for MS if they can combine their msn messenger users with AOL's instant messenger users. Would be quite dominant, and who knows the services they will think of to generate money from that. I have read countless articles about younger people not using emails these days, and using just instant messaging, noticed this specifically when I travelled to Korea this summer.
I hadn't thought it was possibly for AOL to get that much worse.
I was wrong. This makes things much worse.
Why do I get the feeling the Masons are behind this?
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
"Bloomberg speculates that this deal would profit both companies."
Wow, those Bloomberg analysts are really earning their money...
You just have to wonder how a convicted Monopoly would be allowed to buy any other company in the computer industry!!!
Hello, wheres the SEC in this kind of stuff? I mean every Oracle looks to buy out something they throw a hissy fit (although still end up letting oracle buy up competitors) but Microsoft should have hurdles even higher to get over, but when they look to buy something NO ONE in any type of oversight role says ANYTHING!!
I know, I know, they've bought everyone out. But it would be nice if our antitrust law was actually worth the paper its written on.
Shouldn't this raise lots of questions before regulatory approval is granted (or not grnated)?
I know those two together don't make a monopoly, but it sure seems like a start at Microsoft attempting to make [another] one.
How much suck can they fit in one box? Next we'll hear Microsoft is buying SCO...
The Russian Mafia will mod you down just to see if the Moderate button works.
Caller: Hi. I have MSN and my AOL account doesn't work. In fact nothing works.
Banglaore Tech: And sir did you turn the computer on sir?
Caller: Oh. right.
Bangalore Tech: Very good sir. Now kindly go fuck yourself sir. Thank you for calling MSN/AOL tech support, you knuckle dragging imperialist asswipe sir.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Not that this would be why MS is purchasing them, but if there are still Mozilla developers working for AOL, my guess is that they'll be out of a job, soon.
Also, the next edition of Netscape will be based solely upon IE, and won't be released for anything but Windows.
Either way, though, its a nice way to see all the 'Evil' group up. Fine by me, and I'm sure Mozilla will find another home (Novell, possibly? Or IBM? Who knows, maybe Sun, or even a coalition)
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
Apple sued Microsoft, the lawsuit was settled in 1997 when Microsoft agreed to buy $200 million of Apple's stocks (http://news.com.com/2100-1040-843145.html).
a nnounces+layoffs/2100-1014_3-5183848.html).
Sun Microsystems sued Microsoft, got a settlement in 2004 when Microsoft agreed to shell out $1.95 billion (http://news.com.com/Sun+settles+with+Microsoft,+
AOL sued Microsoft in 2002 alleging the latter crushed its Netscape, and now...well, you get the picture.
Sun and Fun
Funny? Interesting, I say!
AOL fired them all in 2003.
Good. This might be the end of AOL. We'll see it rebranded as MSN, and it will continue to founder, until nothing is left.
Let the continunously destructive mergers go forth!
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
While I realize they're discussing merging their portals (whatever that really means) I have to also wonder what kind of effect this is going to have on AOL's acceptance of M$'s proprietary SPF / anti-spam protocol.
I wonder what other effects this will have on the service provider industry since AOL is a major player (e.g., AIM).
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
How is this going to affect the whole Sender ID mess?
This is scary.
Microsoft can use this to push "IE is the standard" even harder than before.
Please save us from this unholy union.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
As of now, MSN Messenger is a somewhat decent instant messenger service. MSN Messenger 6 was probably the best of the bunch. MSN Messenger 7 is one of the most bloated, confusing, and annoying IM client around.
AOL Instant Messenger is probably one of the buggiest, instant messenging programs around and it always has been. It lacks features, is filled with annoying advertisements (often with sound), crashes almost everytime you log out, has a large footfrint, and is just a nightmare to use.
Perhaps if they combined the two lines of instant messengers we might actually get a decent messenger program. Either that or we'd get something resembling Bram Stoker's Nightmare.
find . -name "noobs" -print | xargs rm -rf && echo "pwnd."
Me too!!!!!
--
I'm always serious, never more so than when I'm being flippant. -- Cr. Ziller
Currently no value is placed on the most valuable asset AOL continues to have -- its 17 million or so subscribers (paid). Certainly there is no way TimeWarner can leverage this asset (and the market valuation reflects that). Any of the other portal/subscriber players (Yahoo, MSN, and even Google) would love to add 17million to their base and perhaps even someone like Ebay (better than the skype hordes imho) could/should be interested. Comapred to the few million each with SBC, Comcast, Earthlink, and Bellsouth, the 17million number is by far the most interesting.
So here's the anagrams for AOL and MSN...
MAL ONS - MAL SON - LAM ONS
LAM SON - SALMON - ALMS NO
ALMS ON - SLAM NO - SLAM ON
MA SOLN - AM SOLN - MAN LOS
MAN SOL - MANS LO
"Salmon" has more logo possibilities;
"Slam On!" will appeal to the x-treme and H4x0r crowd,
but "Man, S.O.L.!" is probably closer to what most people think of this development.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Can you imagine bootinh windows into the dulcet tones of the AOL Bot saying, "You got Mail?"
Or AOL with the new and improved advanced Clippy the speaking paperclip help technology?
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
This is possibly a most evil move. MS buys into AOL and has control (of some sort) of the browser market (IE, Netscape, Mozilla funding) but even more evil is that MS buys into several other categories:
Digital content distribution (Time-Warner)
VoIP (Time-Warner networks)
Combined IM markets (AIM/MSN)
DRM on all that content
I hope that those anti-trust government types see this as evil the way that I do. I can't remember what cable companies are tied up in this mess, should it happen, but this is a move by MS to take over communications, digital and voice, as well as a large share of content and content distribution. EVIL EVIL EVIL... that's all I can see in it.
I'm betting that the government will not be able to see the all digital, all-IP future that the FCC and others are trying to create being brought to a corporate congolmeration through moves like this one... Science fiction horror stories happening in real life.
The jokes about MSN and AOL securing MS position with worst portal and search abound, but it proves that most computer users don't care or are clueless. That means that if MS manages this, the world of digital content and communications may become a very bad thing... imagine using an MS phone service? or MSN cable? You'll soon be able to get a BSOD on all your entertainment and communication devices!
EVIL EVIL EVIL!
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
But they aren't buying stakes in Time Warner, they're buying stakes in AOL's time warner division.
Of course, this still brings up an interesting thought. This means that if/once this all goes through, America will have basically three noteworthy television news sources; CNN, which has business entanglements with Microsoft; MSNBC, which has business entanglements with Microsoft; and Fox News, which is frequently brushing against antitrust law and, hm, how shall I put this, some people feel tends to give special deference to Republican ideology.
The reason I bring this up is this. Eventually, Microsoft is going to get into another antitrust lawsuit. Given the above, how do you think TV news is going to portray this...?
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
that in Korea only old people use email?
Remember all those "15 years in the future" articles from C|Net or Wired that made reference to AOLTWMSNBC?
It was a sardonic joke in 2000...
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
What will the next Netscape and Winamp be named?
Microsoft Netscape, powered by Mozilla Firefox
Winamp, powered by Microsoft Media Player
How would this affect the IM market?
Would it affect the interoperability between the 2 apps?
Would the 2 applications consolidate their user base into a single huge IM user base?
Perhaps it's a preemptive strike against google which recently joined the market?
This could get interesting.
Sigs are for the weak.
I wonder if this stock purchase indicates a willingness for the two companies to work together closely. Since AOL now owns WinAmp and AIM, two obvious advances come to mind:
1. AIM and MS Messenger sharing protocols (thus basically killing IM competition)
2. Windows Media Player being improved with some code or features from WinAmp (which could conceivably make for a very good general media player, if you ask me).
With Google Talk, GAIM, Trillian, and others making their mark in the IM field, and iTunes, VLC, and so on making headway in the media player categoroy, those Microsoft and AOL products could probably use the synergy bonus.
I never heard of Carl Icahn till I read today's posting. He's the 49th richest person in the world according to Forbes.His political contributions are to both Republicans and Democrats. (But mostly to Dems.)
Some people would say he's a Wall Street predator the way he bullies companies like TWA. He's got such a big pile of money he can influence companies like Blockbuster. The same guy thinks he's the closest thing a shareholder has to a friend. Even serious analysts admire him.
He's even part of XO Communications and tried to takeover the ailing Marvel Comics. There's a book about it called Comic Wars.
"You learn in this business: It you want a friend, get a dog" - Carl Icahn
Its fitting to see that Time Warner is planning on ditching its stake in AOL (just as its turning around) to a *former competitor* in order to boost share price and fend off a corporate raider like Carl Icahn today. 21 odd years ago, Warner Communications, facing a declining stock price and facing a corporate raider named Rupert Murdoch, sold off a 75% stake in Atari Inc. (the home computer/videogame division - later to be known as Atari Corp.) to *former competitor* Jack Tramiel (founder of Commodore) for $350 million in promissory notes in order to take off immediate pressure on Warner's stock. Murdoch eventually bought a controlling stake in 20th Century Fox instead since one of its big time shareholders fled the country on tax evasion. And it was evident even then that Atari was ready for a turnaround with the Atari 7800 ready for the market, hot 8 bit computers in heavy demand (the 1400XL and the 1450XLD) nearing release, a locked agreement to market the Amiga computer, and an almost completed agreement for non-Japanese worldwide rights to the Nintendo Famicom (which became the NES).
Great track record, Time Warner! That's twice in a generation that you've botched the "synergy" payoff from having control of premiere tech companies with mass market appeal. First Atari, and then AOL.
And let's recap the failures of Time Warner with AOL. Time Warner corporate failed to get Time Warner Cable to carry AOL as its premiere ISP, which was the #1 reason why AOL pursued the merger in the first place. Time Warner corporate failed to take any initiative to getting Time Warner Cable to make a deal with TiVo for set-top DVRs even though through AOL, Time Warner held a large stake in TiVo. Time Warner failed to leverage AOL's WinAmp property combined with the Warner Music Group interests...not to mention failing to envision an actual online music store like iTunes and instead relied upon nobody's favorite company Real to make MusicNet a success that it never became. I could list much more, but I'll end it with settling with Microsoft for less than $1 billion the antitrust case that AOL easily would've won the $10 billion they were demanding (and had that figure trebbled) had they committed to fight for the eventual ruling and a good 5 years of appeals.
At this point, I'm all for Time Warner splitting up. Steve Ross must be spinning in his grave and it'll probably take Ted Turner to his well ahead of schedule.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
This just reeks of a caffeine-induced Ballmer idea to ensure that Microsoft doesn't have to ship Vista with AOL icons on the desktop without them getting a piece of the action. Microsoft Innovation (tm) at its finest!
This sig is six words long.
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I don't fear this at all. This is MS scrambling because they missed the boat.
They're getting in bed with an established but lagging company. Look what's happened with the iPod. This is basically MS doing the same thing w/ the web. One could say AOL is the new iRiver.
vk.
This need not require deliberately crippling other providers - though, as the DR-DOS case showed, they're not above that. It could be as simple as merging AOL-specific code into the Windows kernel, which would make anything using AOL faster than anything that ran purely in userspace.
The second aspect of this is that AOL and Time-Warner are still very connected. If Microsoft controlled AOL - now or in the future - it could also gain control of Time-Warner. Logically, they would then combine Time-Warner with all their other media interests (ZDNet, MSNBC, etc) which would substantially reduce the diversity of outlets out there.
It wouldn't be the end of the world, but I would not be keen to see Microsoft in the driving-seat of both conventional AND Internet media.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
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. . . hook-up with fat, balding forty-something high school principals posing as teenage girls in AOL chat rooms for hot nasty cyber-sex action?
Oh God I Hope So
What?
Maybe MS is making too much money and needs a way to show some losses to reduce their tax burden? At the same time they can canabalize (sp?) any technology AOL might have, within reason of course.
To shreds you say...
"Eventually, Microsoft is going to get into another antitrust lawsuit. Given the above, how do you think TV news is going to portray this...?"
Microsoft and its products will be portrayed positively and will be given lots of "product placement" in news stories. MS promotional pieces will be presented as actual news.
In any antitrust proceeding, the USDoJ will be falsely portrayed as being tough on microsoft, while conducting the most incompetent "prosecution" they can get away with. Any settlement to be reached will be written by MS, and will have a side-effect of increasing MS's revenue. Within two years, the lawyers for the "prosecution" will be gone from government service, and will be making a lot more money working (in an indirect way) for Microsoft.
Sound familiar?
Man, I hope this deal goes through, or chairs are going to be flying in Mr. Ballmer's office.
> According to CNBC, AOL is just about to turn the corner and is currently the most undervalued division of Time Warner.
Does anybody remember that it was AOL that bought Time Warner?
So how does it turn out that Time Warner is in charge?
It seems to me that AOL's investors were really taken for a ride on that one. The purchase now appears to be just an insider transfer of wealth out of AOL, and into Time Warner.
Yes, just before the BSOD, windows locks up your power supply so that you can't use the restart button.
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
These are two of the most despised companies. Maybe they should both buy stake in SCO. This way we can focus the public disdain on just one company, and Slashdot would only need one topic icon. I propose we use Satan as the icon.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The story is a dupe, the topic is boring, the facts weren't checked. WE GET IT!!
Like Bungie and connectix, who get bought out and product lines are trashed.
When AOL and Time Warner merged, the FTC and FCC were all over it, delaying the deal until it had been investigated. The FTC and FCC have done similar things to Google, and other Microsoft competitors that tried to expand.
So where are the FTC and FCC on this deal???
After all, Microsoft is a convicted monopoly. And here Microsoft is trying to buy itself into a controlling position in a new market -- a market where, so far, Microsoft has failed to succeed on its own. And while we're at it, where was the FCC when Microsoft was buying into various Internet access providers?
Microsoft is trying to gain a position where they are in control of both the content, and the delivery system. That is something that the FCC's rules are supposed to prevent.
Can you say payoffs? I guess what some people say about government oversight commissions is true -- instead of protecting the public, they usually end up protecting the major industry players from competition.
If you can't kill them with quality, you can kill them with quantity. MSN Dialup is not enough, now if they own a part in AOL they can ask them to redirect all google.com requests to search.msn.com. Or, even worse, break Google's pages randomly and then claim that "MSN is better than Google". They are already saying it, now they'll have proof. Remember how they broke MSN's homepage if the browser reported it was Opera? This is just the case.
So, all n00bs who use AOL will think that Google has become crap and Ballmer will have his dream fulfilled. Additionally, Microsoft will save money on broken chairs.
Wonderful, yet another thing MS will possess. To assist mankind, MS should give a billion or two over to Louisiana. Then I'd be impressed.
This is justification to continue promoting the development of open-source.
Steve Douglas
Hmm...I'll get right on that.
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
It's also being reported that AOL has also made overtures about a possible sale to Google.
I had the same thought. I'd rather have an asteroid jumping over Earth than heading straight for it.
wow, one big all-encompassing trailer park.
far out
... people may actually move to Linux.
Ignore this signature. By order.
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Indeed, the headline contains a typo. It should read:
Microsoft to Bury Stake in AOL
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I thought it said "Skype"...
So instead of my worst fears of AOL owning Batman & Bugs Bunny, I get Batman & Bugs and Bill owning AOL.
TimeWarner, this is a boneheaded mistake on top of the one you made purchasing AOL in the first place. Once you bought it you had a chance to change it into a real company. Now you will let MS Borg it. There never was much help for you if you were an AOL subscriber, now you are officially FsckedXP.
Does this mean that AOL will stop eating IE every automatic AOL update? Could shake the PC repair industry to its core.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
Woo-Hoo! Finally maybe all those emails I forwarded in 2002 will come to fruition!
for once, a VERY informative article on the subject and speculation about AOL - google relationship. http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/markets/jamesaltuc her/10242834.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite= NA>
having spoke to a couple of members on the MSN Messanger team during an interview about this very issue (Microsoft purchase of AOL), this isn't a new idea. Messanger has the largest IM stake in Europe and elsewhere besides the United States. It is only in the US where AOL's AIM has a majority. The purchase of AOL will combine Messanger and AIM to create the largest single userbase.... Again, this was concidered well before Google Talk, it's just that if Microsoft had made the purchase before, everyone would yell ANTITRUST!.... now, no one is going to stop them because Google stepped in with Google Talk...
You missed the most evident MSNOL. Just got approved in the Meeting :)
As an ex-AOL'er, I can imagine how the weight of indecisive AOL employees will drag down part of Microsoft!
Honestly, AOL is full of idiots that think they know online media, or the web, and are very much out of touch with the real world. Add to that their heavy dose of "Not Invented Here" syndrome. You wouldn't believe how many fiefdoms fight amongst themselves in that company, when they should be focusing on what projects could be doing for customers.
That's why I left many years ago. AOL is a gated community that doesn't Get It. Let them drag on Microsoft's Bottom Line.
In any case MSFT is a loser and TWX is a winner in this deal. What about GOOG if it secures AOL ?
It was the best picture of goatse-ish stuff I could find at school. Jeez. You people suck. :(
Microsoft would profit from merging the AOL portal with MSN, as a strategy to catch up with his rivals
Microsoft is a he now?
What's really going to be un-nerving is the merger between MSN's proprietary news groups and AOL's proprietary news groups.
The flame wars will be unprecedented.
Oh, the humanity!
Yes I did. I learned programming on Univac 1100 at SUNY Albany. I worked for Sperry for a few years but resigned in 1984 to work on IBM equipment. I still consider quitting one of the best career moves I ever made.
Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a cheque.
Regards.
Chinu!
I thought this was a scam myself, but two weeks after receiving this e-mail and forwarding it on, Microsoft contacted me for my address and within days, I received a cheque for US$24,800.00. You need to respond before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this Bill Gates is the man. It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many people as possible. You are bound to get at least US$10,000.00.
This is what happens when the devil jacks off.
Visit My Steamboat Springs Blog
well said. :)
In Soviet Russia, us are belong to all your base.
Who cares!! If you are posting here you are probably computer literate and as such will probably never have to use AOL.
but, like programmers using vi to edit CSS, they stick with their original chat and web clients even knowing that there are better alternatives.
This doesn't make sense! Everyone knows there's no better alternative to coding CSS with vi
Bloomberg speculates that this deal would profit both companies.
Gee, you don't say. Two companies are voluntarily entering into a deal. If the deal didn't "profit both companies" at least one of them would say no to the deal.
fucking spammer.
list of spammers
Maybe they watched Stand and Deliver too many times: A negative times a negative equals a positive!
Microsoft and AOL have been seperate companies all this time? News to me!
Everyone Knows that AOL is internet for dummies, and they have been losing share to broadband cable modems for years now. MSN sucks, so this really makes sense. Look at past mergers Sperry and Burroughs.. amounted to nothing Compaq, Tandem and DEC... Amounted to nothing HP and Compaq... Ammounted to nothing Sun and ?? who was it.. oh yeah.. again nothing. This just means (like all the others) that this is the beginning of the end of AOL. Natural consolidation in the marketplace.
He must be running XP and he must have agreed to the EULA.
That's the only way they could legally know that he wasn't being a good user^H^H^H^H citizen.
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
And though, neither of them has a womb capable of giving birth to an original or creative concept, I am sure that through much straining and grunting, wailing and gnashing of teeth, some new horror will take root in the bowels of one of these monstrosities.
But what I notice is that, in each case, the beneficiary of those "missteps" is Microsoft.
The first destroyed the Commodore Amiga, which was one of the biggest threats Microsoft faced during the eighties. The second harmed Microsoft's biggest competitor (at that time) on the Internet, a competitor who, by funding the development of Mozilla, was putting a big dent in Microsoft's plan to control the Internet. The third saved Microsoft $9 billion. And the fourth will help Microsoft's ongoing plan to control the Internet.
Is it insane to suggest that under-the-table Microsoft money may have motivated these Time Warner "mistakes?"
Maybe, or maybe not.
After all, we know that Microsoft paid SCO to attack Linux (a move that may have proven fatal for SCO).
And we have seen that this is a common strategy for Microsoft, as shown by this memo from James Allchin to Bill Gates, cited in the DOJ Findings of Fact:
"I am positive that we must do a direct attack on Sun (and probably Oracle). . . . Between ourselves and our partners, we can certainly hurt their (certainly Sun's) revenue base. . . . We need to get Intel to help us. Today, they are not."
So, yes, maybe Time Warner, a very rich company, stupidly lost a lot of money. Or maybe Microsoft, a very rich and dishonest company, smartly gained a lot of money and power.
I thought the article subject was "Microsoft to Buy Snake Oil". Close enough, I guess...
now take AOL, something already crappy. i can't possibly imagine what microsoft can do it. maybe this time around people will actually shy away to something else. Or AOL becomes so bad it gets better. disclaimer: If you think about that for more than two seconds your head will explode.
Now you will be able to make a chair out of Microsoft Bob CD's. Or a toilet.
Table-ized A.I.
Yes, there are a lot of aspects to this move. I think IM is the big one, though: it's IM that keeps kids signed up with one company or another, and google has a chance of taking significant MSN market share without AIM. Let's hope people start using Google Talk (Jabber-based, of course), Apple's iChat (also Jabber-based) and other jabber accounts before it's too to claw back any sort of free IM market :(
Is there a better CSS editor out there than Vim? I actually want to know, because it takes hours to position everything right sometimes, and it would save much more time if I could just draw what I want and have it generate the CSS.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
aol is a major piece of google's ad revenue. the game here is the same as the game ten years ago with netscape: cut off google's "air supply" by attacking their revenue. The tactic with netscape was to give away the browser and elimintate the revenue stream from selling the browser: not critical to MSFT since it has other revenue streams. The tactic here is to shift ad revenue away from the search provider: again, MSFT has other revenue streams.