| geert lovink on Wed, 5 Sep 2001 09:01:27 +0200 (CEST) |
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| <nettime> The Industry Standard's Media Grok is back! |
(returned from the land of dead... here it is, covering the big story of the
hp-compaq merger/takeover. /geert)
=====================================================================
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
M E D I A G R O K
A Commentary on What the Press Is Reporting and Why
=====================================================================
| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
TOP GROKS:
* Hello
* HP to Get Compaq'ted
* Not So Exciting AtHome
MORE NEWS:
* HP to Acquire Compaq
* When the Digital Pedal Hits the Metal
* Putting Order to the Chaos of Information Technology
* DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Reject Microsoft Appeal
TOP GROKS
~~~~~~~~~
Hello
How can you miss us if we won't go away?
Last year, we at Media Grok amused ourselves with the saga of
APBnews.com, a crime-news site that went bankrupt and kept closing and
re-opening, and finally got bought out by a company whose CEO has
subsequently been indicted on tax and procurement fraud charges. Now,
perhaps, we offer up ourselves for similar ridicule.
Media Grok last published on Aug. 17. The Industry Standard magazine
is closed, and the parent company filed Chapter 11 on Aug. 27. But
Standard Media International has retained a skeleton crew while
shopping the business, and the Media Grok team is part of it. So for
at least several more weeks, we're back.
During our "vacation" from Media Grok, we watched the Industry
Standard get served up as the embodiment of everything that is wrong
with publishing, the Net Economy, you name it. Even Alan Meckler, the
profitability-challenged CEO of INT Media Group, weighed in with an
acid-tongued requiem. As for explanations from IDG and former Standard
executives, coverage quickly descended to the "it wasn't my fault"
level. At least three reporters felt it necessary to inform their
readers that ex-Standard execs had been tracked down in such tony
locales as Hawaii and Martha's Vineyard.
We at Media Grok don't know for certain how long we'll be producing
Media Grok for the Standard, or how or if we will continue if the
Standard doesn't or can't remain our benefactor. So write us at
mediagrok@guterman.com and we'll tell you what we're doing and where.
Chances are the "where" won't be Hawaii, though. - Jimmy Guterman
The Future of Media Grok
http://www.guterman.com
Rumor Mill: Standard excuses
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1015-205-6994220.html
High-Tech Casualty
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec01/layoffs_8-20.html
Failed Mag Set Standard for Wasting Money
http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-08-24/News_and_Views/Media_and_Business/a-12
2910.asp
Final Public Offering
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A512-2001Aug26.html
Sudden death at the Industry Standard
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/opinion/perspective/docs/ps082601.htm
The Fast and Furious Rise and Fall of the Industry Standard
http://www.inside.com/product/product.asp?entity=localhost&pf_ID=04929592-51
29-4C39-BAE3-A04DD2C3DB47
Battelle's "Hairy, Audacious Goal" for The Standard
http://www.atnewyork.com/views/article/0,1471,8481_872301,00.html
Industry Standard owes at least $10 million
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/08/29/BU159482.DTL
-------------------------------
HP to Get Compaq'ted
Even we must admit that the return of Media Grok isn't the big story
today. Hewlett-Packard plans to buy Compaq in a $25 billion stock-swap
deal, the companies announced (oh-so-conveniently for U.S. outlets) on
Labor Day night. The media's favorite adjective for this one appeared
to be "bold." Hold your applause: One of the more commonly spotted
nouns was "antitrust."
First, the good news (curmudgeons can skip ahead two paragraphs).
Compaq's new focus on "services" would help HP, which tried and failed
to buy the consulting arm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. From Compaq's
point of view, the deal "provides a premium to shareholders, while it
helps to bolster the company's waning Unix server-computer sales,"
said CBS MarketWatch, one of the few outlets to note any perks for the
big Q.
All this would put the combined company in good shape to compete with
IBM industry-wide, and put the hurt on Dell in the PC arena. (Of
course, this is not good news if you're Michael Dell.) Journalists
should be happy to learn that the post-merger company would keep the
HP name and not become HewlettPackardCompaq. Writing
"PriceWaterhouseCoopers" is bad enough.
The deal gives a PR boost to HP boss Carly Fiorina, who seems to have
been walking around with a "kick me" sign all year. "The deal is a
vote of confidence by Hewlett-Packard's board for Ms. Fiorina," said
the New York Times. "Only a month ago, pundits were speculating
whether Carleton Fiorina would be dismissed," said News.com. Not
everyone was kind to Fiorina, who would become CEO of the new biz.
"She can't manage HP," one pundit told the San Jose Mercury News. "Can
she manage both of them?" Someone just fell off the Fiorina family's
Christmas-card list.
Many observers frowned on the deal, if not on Carly herself. Some
analysts "questioned the commercial logic of the merger, saying Compaq
was too big for HP to digest," reported the Evening Standard. The Wall
Street Journal also wondered if the merger wouldn't be a "distraction
for management" - and who wants to be the world's biggest PC maker in
this retail climate, anyway? "Isn't this a rather expensive way to
overtake Dell?" quipped The Register. "And what's the betting that HP
and Compaq will together be greater than the sum of their parts?"
That sum might include a "major culture clash," said the Merc, since
HP has a "conservative corporate culture," and "Compaq is regarded as
more of a maverick." (A $25 billion maverick, though.) Finally, expect
a big antitrust investigation, since observers estimated that the
combined company would sell two-thirds of all the PCs in U.S. retail
stores.
Most journalists took a break from merger mania to wonder if, and how
many, HP and Compaq employees might lose their jobs over this. The
Register may have found the answer in a Compaq memo it obtained. The
companies expect to save $2.5 billion, partially through
"approximately 15,000 job reductions, or about 10 percent of the
company's combined work force of more than 145,000," wrote Compaq's
Michael Capellas. If Monster.com runs a little slowly today, now you
know why. - Jen Muehlbauer
Hewlett-Packard to buy Compaq
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BBD3A0D20%2D4F38%2D4454%2DB
8CB%2DD13FE927677B%7D&siteid=mktw
Merger to combine two of the largest names in PC world
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-201-7046992-0.html
Hewlett-Packard to Acquire Compaq in $25 Billion Deal
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/04/technology/04DEAL.html
(Registration required.)
HP buying Compaq for estimated $25 billion
http://www.siliconvalley.com/hottopics/hp/
Hewlett-Packard Agrees to Acquire Compaq Computer in Stock Swap
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB999553371387135083.htm
(Paid subscription required.)
HP to buy Compaq for Battle of the Bulge
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/21442.html
HP makes Don Capellas an offer he can't refuse
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/21444.html
Hewlett-Compaq in #17bn merger
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/business_story.html?in_review_id=
453072&in_review_text_id=403814
Hewlett-Packard in $25bn move for rival Compaq
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3YHAV47RC
Compaq being sold to H-P for $25 billion
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/tech/news/1033609
-------------------------------
Not So Exciting AtHome
Not a lot of tech news came out over the Labor Day weekend, but last
week's hot story - the travails of ExciteAtHome - continued in the
headlines today.
The company is burning $1 million per day, according to the New York
Times, and it is negotiating with a major investor who wants $50
million of its money back right now. And on Friday, ExciteAtHome got
the news that two of the partners that resell its cable network
access, Cox and Comcast, have elected not to renew their contracts.
On Saturday the Times ran Matt Richtel's portrait of ExciteAtHome CEO
Patti S. Hart. As profiled by Richtel, Hart came off as a folksy and
capable executive who just might be able to pull ExciteAtHome out of
the danger zone. CNET's comprehensive backgrounder on ExciteAtHome,
published on Friday, was more downbeat, focusing on the culture clash
between Excite's young dot-com crowd and the "cable guys" who built
the AtHome network.
InternetNews covered the story of Cox's and Comcast's decision to
terminate their distribution agreements with ExciteAtHome. Reporter
Thor Olavsrud found some sources who thought the partners' withdrawal
could be good news for the embattled cable portal, freeing it to make
distribution deals with other players, such as (possibly) Microsoft.
Let's give the last word to contrarian pundit Robert X. Cringely, who
dashed cold water on any lurking optimism about the future of
ExciteAtHome: "Broadband is not, at this time, a viable industry."
What is? - Keith Dawson
Excite@Home Executive in Crisis Control at Warp Speed
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/02/business/02PROF.html
(Registration required.)
Was Excite@Home marriage doomed at the altar?
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-201-7013071-0.html
Cox, Comcast Plan to End @Home Distribution Agreements
http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article/0,2171,8_876771,00.html
No Longer Feeling @Home
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20010830.html
MORE NEWS AT THESTANDARD.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HP to Acquire Compaq
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28865,00.html?nl=mg
When the Digital Pedal Hits the Metal
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28864,00.html?nl=mg
Putting Order to the Chaos of Information Technology
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28863,00.html?nl=mg
DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Reject Microsoft Appeal
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28861,00.html?nl=mg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MORE LINKS
~~~~~~~~~~
Justice Department Pushes High Court To Reject Microsoft Antitrust
Appeal
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB999274020292533116.htm
(Paid subscription required.)
Single-Number Plan Raises Privacy Fears
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-000071061sep02.story?coll=la%2Dheadline
s%2Dtechnology
Merger wallflower Yahoo may get next dance (Reuters)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/054349.htm
Squandering Our Technological Future
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/opinion/31CLAR.html
(Registration required.)
Report finds laws inadequate against cybersquatters
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3UW7DM6RC
MP3.com Loses Founder, Settles With Britney Spears' Record Company
http://www.sonicnet.com/news/digital/story.jhtml?id=1448574
Whitehouse.gov Gets a Makeover
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46480,00.html
Ultrafast wireless technology set to lift off
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/08/30/ultrafast.wireless.idg/index.html
UL torture-testing more information technology products
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/ul090401.htm
BT Wireless's New Name, mmO2, Bewilders Branding Consultants
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB999509692624276117.htm
(Paid subscription required.)
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Deborah Asbrand (dasbrand@world.std.com), Michaela
Cavallaro (mcavalla@maine.rr.com), Keith Dawson
(dawson@world.std.com), Jen Muehlbauer (jen@englishmajor.com) and
David Sims (davesims@sonic.net).
Copyedited and produced by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com).
Edited by Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com).
Media Grok is produced by The Vineyard Group Inc., for Standard Media
International.
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