Thomas Jowers

Ask.com, Microsoft and AOL - Internet Love Triangle?

<IMG class=authors_reply src="static.seekingalpha.co..."> Why wouldnt Diller sale the entire company for a 31% premium? You are right when you say that it is IACI that owns all of the companies. But didnt Diller break up IACI so that it would better situated to make strategic partnerships, mergers, and buyouts? I can still see the whole company being bought out soon. Google cant buy it because they want to stay off of the antitrust/monopoly radar. Yahoo isn't going to try. The only other buyers could be a media company or advertising company but they are going to be bargain hunting due to the the fall in advertising revenues last year and this year.
This is all Just my Opinion.
Thanks for the Feedback!

Riding the Rails: Why BNI Was Berkshire's Best Bet - And Vintage Buffett

Buffet is my Hero!

Google Chrome: Redefining the Operating System

If google decides to give away chrome that means it wont make a significant amount of money, even if ad supported, so what is to say that they will wake up and say we are no longer going to support it because it is costing us money, what then, do you want to be the proud owner of a pc that runs on a OS that is no longer being supported or easily upgraded like MSFT.

Google makes money in Search, end of sentence.

MSFT makes money in Software. end of sentence.

both are looking for new ways to make money, MSFT has the better idea to try and take search share and ad dollars instead of GOOG trying to take OS marketshare by giving it away for free. at least MSFT is trying to make money in the long run and not just piss other companies off.

A Shopping List for Dell

I think that Dell needs to do something to diversify but what? I think that your last 2 picks are the best. Cheers.

Or...what if Dell wanted in on the Cloud?

Solar Stocks Down Sharply on Profit Taking, Concern About Demand

If Solar options were cheap (under $100) for the home, it could be anything that helps. Then I would be an early adopter, but until something is available, I will continue using my coal eating electric provider.

How to Fix Microsoft for $5 Billion

What's 30 million among friends, or if you have $25 BILLION

For Sears and AOL, Good News Is News

I actually like the idea and I think that there are a niche of people that are always saying that news agencies only cover sad news stories. This site will appeal to them. Will it mean anything to AOL or SHLD's bottom line, probably not.





I own SHLD in my 401 K and I work at Sears where I am a salesman.

How to Fix Microsoft for $5 Billion

18 Million in addition to the $30 in cash Looksmart already has.

I don't believe that MSFT needs to be split up, I would rather see a shake up in management. They have way to managers and not enough people who actually work. I see the same thing at the company where I work. My local branch has 95 employees, and 19 of them are managers. Do you really need that many managers, too much stuff gets lost in translation and makes it harder to be fast and competitive is all you do it have meetings about meetings.

Rackspace would be a goog acquisition for MSFT.

I know that MSFT acquistion history is far from perfect, that is why I think that seperate entities need to operate like seperate businesses so that they can innovate seperately and then collaborate within the company to better the product.

Acquisitions CAN WORK, MSFT just needs to look at previous purchases that have worked for other companies and try to capture that lightning in a bottle for their own company.

I know it wouldnt be a quick fix, but I personally think it would be a step in the right direction.

Keep the comments coming, This is what makes the world better, when we can communicate without yelling and arguing!

Thanks for the comments.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter. Twitter.com/thomasjowers

Why Isn't Microsoft's Strategy Working Anymore?

Okay...a few things I want to get off my chest.

I have a Zune 80 and will upgrade when the Zune HD comes out. I LOVE my Zune.

My XBox 360 is AWESOME... I play games, watch movies, and did you know that you can hook up your Zune and turn it into a Juke Box? You can also get Netflix on it....Can you do that with the Wii?

I was one of the first consumers to upgrade to VISTA, I have had NO problems whatsoever with Vista.

and some people say MSFT has no innovation?
What about the Surface, you know that computer/table that MSFT has been selling for $13000 and companies ARE buying.

Bing is a Great website, one guy said it was not up to date as google news, well. you are comparing 2 different things. the homepage of Bing and the News page of Google. Well, google is not up to date as Twitter. Bing is layed out better than google and yahoo IN MY OPINION.

What about SilverLight, it is a Great product.

Sync for vehicles.....thier photo stitching software...

Someone also said that MSFT has not found a way to keep customers spending money like Apple's itunes. Have you even bought MSFT/Zune/Xbox points to buy songs, pictures, podcast, games etc....

What about the Zune Pass, $15 per month. or Xbox Live Membership that is $50 per year.... Does apple have something that MILLIONS of people are happy to pay $50 per year for?

I too am a little unhappy with the stock price, but I am only 24 and I believe that MSFT will be one of my best holdings when it is time for me to cash in. I have been buying on these pullbacks, a my dividends are reinvested so I am getting even more Shares! Thanks MSFT for a Dividend.

Check out my article on how to fix MSFT for $5 Billion!
I own Microsoft.

MSFT you are more than welcome to contact me about job openings. My Current employer will understand if I leave.

Fixing Microsoft for under $5 Billion

Microsoft wants online advertising to one of its 4 main pillars of income, also Google has something like 65% marketshare in this space. From purchasing these properties Microsoft would still be the little guy but would maybe be able to turn a profit in this sector. Just to put it into perspective, Microsoft has $25 Billion in cash on hand, and spent $6 Billion to buy aQuantive a while back.


On Jun 04 05:05 AM papayaclock wrote:

> very insightful and interesting. is advertising that big of a concern
> for microsoft? i understand that it is a great concern for every
> major corporation, but 5 billion is alot of scratch, maybe not as
> much as i comprehend it to be. wouldnt they also come under alot
> of microscopes and claims pop up about monopolization? i may be way
> off base but just a thought.

Search Smack Down: Bing vs. Google

I agree with Economyst, when I searched for Bing on google, bing.com was NOT the first result. It did show up in the sponsored links though. So...is Microsoft paying google for links????? How much of the $100 million ad budget is going to google?