Free Phone + Bluetooth @T-Mobile.comNews Corp.-Yahoo: More of a bad idea
If Rupert Murdoch decides to start a bidding war for Yahoo--that's the rumor du jour on Silicon Alley Insider--then we've truly entered the realm of the bizarre.
Not that it can't happen. I've been around this industry too long to underestimate the potential for bad decision making. Ego and daring often trump sound judgment. I won't devote more space revisiting the litany of corporate bungles that were originally hailed as strategic coups by the business elite. You can read my position on the wisdom of a Yahoo-Microsoft combination in my Friday column (click here).
Murdoch's business acumen speaks for itself and News Corp. is a terrific franchise. Like any of their rivals, it's keen to expand both audience and advertising reach. But would a pair-up between a huge media company and a technology company--one with a big online media component--work out? We've been there before. It's called AOL-Time Warner.
Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years. A graduate of Queens College and Columbia University, Cooper began his career in journalism at the Associated Press before moving to technology coverage. E-mail Charlie.
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put in writing and the comparison with AOL-Time Warner is a bad
one. Steve Case is no Rupert Murdoch.
I'm not a big fan of what Rupert Murdoch has done with news - that
is, to dumb down complex issues to 30 seconds or less (in reality
the news was headed this way - he just accelerated the process,)
but the last thing I would ever do is bet against him.