Valleywag
Sources familiar with Microsoft tell the WSJ they expect CEO Steve Ballmer to target another large Internet company for acquisition soon. Noting that few companies have the size to boost Microsoft's business, Ballmer himself listed Facebook and News Corp.'s MySpace as properties that could help Microsoft control the Internet as it did the personal computer. Others want Ballmer to buy AOL for its massive and cheap inventory. (What, are they pulling for a Nsync reunion tour as well?) Microsoft could easily better Yahoo's $10 billion offer for AOL, says SAI's Henry Blodget. But there's a reason AOL is cheap, people.
Compete reports visits to AOL are down 21 percent in the last year. It's "people count" dropped from 74 million to 60 million in the same time. Face it: AOL remains popular because old people in middle America are too lazy to change their default home page. If Microsoft really wants a decrepit 1990s Internet brand name cheap, it could probably get Prodigy from AT&T for a lot less than $10 billion.
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If Microsoft really wants a decrepit 1990s Internet brand name cheap, it could probably get Prodigy from AT&T for a lot less than $10 billion.
They already have one, it's called MSN.
@nycaviation: Hey, video.msn.com actually serves up pretty good looking content (waaay higher quality than YouTube). If you don't believe me check out my YouTube versus MSN Video shootout at [greenscreencinema.com]
Microsoft should buy AOL then drop the AOL name.
Prodigy still exists?!
Hilarious. I was a beta tester in Washington DC. I'm sure the only thing that remains of the service is the name, but that goes to show that in some cases, that's all that matters to these companies... run by people who wouldn't recognize good technology if it bit them in the ass.
@macbeach: That's why Prodigy is such a good buy for Microsoft. Then they'd have new content for their marvelous touch-screen coffee table.
That touch-screen coffe table is bull$hit. My kid is always leaving crap on the coffee table. I'm gonna somehow put together yet another PowerPoint with that mess? Microsoft might as well bring back the SPOT watches. It's over, MS.
Maybe CompuServe is available too..
or Quantum Link... ;)
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