There is loads of opinions on the attempted buyout of Yahoo by Microsoft. Whether there will be a new higher offer is debatable. What matters is that Microsoft needs Yahoo pretty badly in order to enhance its web activities, an area where Redmond’s success has been very limited. Ten years ago we measured success by sales of PCs. Now does anybody consider Dell as a cutting edge company? Its model has remained the same for years and does not attract the attention we were used to in the 90s.
Although hardware sales are still important, IT companies strive to offer those extra services that will keep them competitive and allow them -with customer feedback- to continuously evolve towards more attractive and value added services. Google is the current web master and the medium it uses is much more flexible -and uncertain of course- than PC operating systems. On the other hand, Yahoo has not managed to take advantage of its huge user base, despite the fact that some of its applications are strongly entrenched in the market.
The era when every device will be online is not far, and there is already signs that the future of pure hardware manufacturers is threatened. If Apple can make MP3 players and other hardware that will match its software, I cannot see why the opposite is not possible or necessary. Sony already realises that and tries to get in the game with PS3 services -like Microsoft and its Xbox 360. Read the rest of this entry »
