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AOL In Talks With Microsoft to Merge Online Divisions, Says WSJ
Ian Lamont writes "Microsoft executives are reportedly meeting with their AOL counterparts to discuss combining the two companies' online divisions. No one from either side is willing to comment, nor has the structure of the supposed deal been worked out.
The original unconfirmed report comes from the Wall Street Journal (password-protected). A few months ago there was talk about AOL teaming up with Yahoo, but that never materialized." The free excerpt at the WSJ link above seems to say about as much as this Bloomberg wire report which refers to it, and the above-linked story at The Standard; this Reuters story indicates that AOL is still courting or being courted by Yahoo!, too.
I, for one, welcome our new defunct-ISP-turned-corporate-content-provider overlords.
There are mountains to cross for those that are willing.
WTF is MS thinking these days...
Welcome to Web 1.0...
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
Hooray....Now I only have to hate one company,
... I would have thought my penchant for snagging all the free AOL disks I see and using them as frisbees, coasters, and arranging them in strange geometric designs on my wall (ad-side hidden) would have drained all of their resources by now. So sad.
Seriously, wasn't BiX or CompuServe interested? Or is AOL just proprietary enough with a captive audience to appeal to Microsoft's way of thinking?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
worstcompanyever tag on this one?
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
AOL Account cancellation policy for MS' new subscription based access to Office.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
No one from either side is willing to comment, nor has the structure of the supposed deal been worked out. The original unconfirmed report comes from the Wall Street Journal (password-protected). A few months ago there was talk about AOL teaming up with Yahoo, but that never materialized.
Translation:
We know absolutely nothing because nobody is talking about the unconfirmed idea that supposedly sort of was talked about some time ago.
WTF?
"Microsoft executives are reportedly meeting with their AOL counterparts to discuss combining the two companies' online divisions."
I'd be interested to know what America Online's Non-Online division does.
It's like the perfect storm of suck. Maybe that's their business model: suck so bad that nothing, not even light can escape.
Despite AOL being in the twilight of its existence, I think it would be an absolutely shrewd move on the executive's part to merge/sell-out to another company. That way, they have their buy-out packages as a between job buffer. Microsoft can gut the company and use their data centers and such. I won't have to deal with AOL as a browser or dial-up service on people's computers anymore. Everyone wins! [except the employees of AOL]
The game.
Ballmer's craziness is also reflected in their other acquisitions. Why would they buy http://www.danger.com/ which has no integration with Windows Mobile? Only to make fight with Google's Android.
MS supposedly cost $10bn to develop (depending on what sources you read) and MS was prepared to spend $40bn for Yahoo. Surely MS should be thinking of spending more on fixing their core business.
Hey Ballmer, if you want to survive then you need to be less competitor focused and more customer focused. Don't let you megalomania divert you from core business.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I'm sure AOL's IM portion is lucrative. With MS messenger and AIM, and already existing compatibility with yahoo networks, that pretty much leaves no-one else (with any significant market share).
I would think for dialup, people are gonna go with AOL or MSN because those are the names out there. It's been years n years since I've used dialup or even remember seeing a local place advertise for it. The way websites are getting crazier and crazier stuffing content onto them Microsoft knows that the best way to secure future high speed users is to have them as current dialup users.
*DrugCheese rants*
"YAOSoft". Has a distinctly Chinese ring to it. Like a good media monopoly should.
--
make install -not war
... paying everyone who forwards an e-mail message $245.00
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/microsoft-aol.asp
Life imitates an urban legend. Shit.
AIM. If MS can put AIM and MSN together, they have about 80% of the worlds IM market. Think of all the data to mine from there.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
What better way to secure your future than merge yourself with a failing online business (AOL)? WTF is MS thinking these days...
Maybe they figure they are a better culture match than with Yahoo. AOL was about lucklaster ads, controlling user experience, inconsistent interfaces, sneaking your products into every device, and closed standards. A match made in heaven!
Table-ized A.I.
AOL should seriously consider joining The SCO Group. Two dodo's (Albatross for the moment maybe?) with one stone.
I guess this means soon I'll start getting a stream of Vista CDs in the mail and I can "upgrade" my coasters. Pretty handy in the hot & humid weather here, I'll tell you.