Microsoft Rumors Falling Like Leaves
Two notes before we start: First, your editor is on deadline for a magazine
story, so today's RCPU will be shorter (and possibly even sweeter) than usual.
Second, we promised you last week that we'd hear this week from a small business-intelligence
vendor trying to survive in the shark tank of BI acquisitions by larger companies.
We will bring you that vendor's story -- but not this week after all, as today's
newsletter will be the last one until after Thanksgiving.
Oh, and Happy Thanks...giving...from R...C...P...U (and Les
Nessman)!
It's fall in New England -- autumn, if you want to get poetic about it -- and
a late run of warm weather into October has stretched leaf-peeping (seriously,
people call it that) season well into November. Even today -- the week of Thanksgiving
here in the U.S., fairly late for this sort of thing -- there are trees festooned
with blazing yellow and fiery orange leaves. Soon, they'll darken, tumble and
cover the ground, and the trees will be bare stick figures until spring comes
again.
We see this same cycle of life (and death) with the endless Microsoft-is-going-to-buy-Yahoo
rumor. Last we remember, it came up back in the late spring, budding again from
a winter of slumber. Now, in the fall, it has burst into spectacular color,
thanks to a blog
post from former Wall Street type Henry Blodget.
Magnificent! Just look how bright it is! Of course, as many other commentators
have already noted (here's
one), the rumor is likely to be bunk again -- meaning it'll soon meet the same
fate as a leaf that turns brown and tumbles to the ground. So, admire it while
you can. We could be in for a long winter ahead.
Posted by Lee Pender on November 20, 2007