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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.
ME TOO!
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
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?
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 $40bn for Yahoo. Surely MS should be thinking of spending more on fixing their core business.
Hey Ballmer, if you want to survive then you need to be less competitor focused and more customer focused. Don't let you megalomania divert you from core business.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Hopefully AOL can do for M$ what AOL did for Time Warner.
Hello from America On Line's non-online division.
America On Line's non-online division handles the non-online portions of America On Line's business. This includes managing various activities related to America On Line's non-online activities, as well as anticipating global paradigm shifts on the non-online ecospace, as they pertain to America On Line's non-online geosphere.
At America On Line's non-online division we pride ourselves on our commitment to serving your needs through anticipatory evolution and dynamic relationship-building with our service base. Rest assured, here at America On Line's non-online division, no distance is too great for us to go to ensure quality, accurate, and timely non-online activities. Never will you see America On Line's non-online division online. No sir or ma'am. America On Line's non-online division is working too dilligently offline to fool around with online fooling around.
So we hope this introduction helps you understand us here at America On Line's non-online division and to help us better serve you, the valued customer with non-online needs.
"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.