The New York Times reported today that Microsoft is in talks with Time Warner about acquiring or purchasing a substantial ownership percentage of America Online. I am sure my former co-workers at Dulles are pretty excited about this.
I have always thought an AOL partnership with Microsoft would make the most logical sense. There are things that AOL is very good at, such as coming up with snazzy graphics on web pages. But at the same time, AOL is not very good at other things such as getting the web pages (or the "walled garden" AOL software) to work properly. This is where a partnership with Microsoft would be the most beneficial to AOL.
Another resaon this would make sense is Microsoft is scheduled to release Vespa, the next version of Windows, in 2006. Many of the new functionalities in Vespa are the same Internet "safety and security" features that AOL has been throwing in for free on its AOL software. A joint MSAOL entity would give users one unified layer of Internet protection instead of having to go to one place for one set of services provided by AOL and another place, most likely Vespa's Control Panel, for services provided by Microsoft.
One irony of this possible partnership is that AOL currently owns Netscape, which at one time was the dominant web browser and after the introduction of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, became the main alternative browser for Internet users that wished to seek refuge from Microsoft technology. But I think the most significant result of this development is that it affirms the work that AOL has been doing in making its service more relevant to the "always on" Internet world. At the very least it shows that AOL is finally on the right track.
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3 comments:
Interesting post...what you fail to mention is the competitive advantage the combined entity will have going forward. Bill Gates has built an empire on unreliable, inconsistent, and downright lousy products. AOL fits perfectly into this scheme...the amount of customers whose computers inexplicably crash is likely to increase now, which is the main metric Microsoft uses to assess its effectiveness at achieving its goal. While this is the main goal of Microsoft, they will never reveal this to the media or the world. They will talk about product placement and whatnot, but as an ex-AOL employee, I think you know very well what this is all about...reducing product quality, efficiency, and ruining the "customer experience". I think this acquisition may be Microsoft's most effective foray into achieving this end, and I look forward to what the future brings.
Windows Vista - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx
not Vespa - http://www.vespausa.com/
Oops, my bad. Vespa is a restaurant/bar on West Franklin Street. Ha!
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