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Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
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Nov. 19, 2009
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Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Feb. 8, 2008 / 2 Adar I 5768

Microsoft, Yahoo Deal Ignites Passions

By Mark Kellner

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Could Web-based applications be the key to what may be the computer industry deal of the decade?


It's still an open question - in this observer's mind, at least - whether the proposed acquisition of Web search near-giant Yahoo and software titan Microsoft Corp. will either come to pass, or have a major effect on the world as we know it. But if it does happen, the shifting of computer applications from the desktop to the Web may be a part of the big picture.


For Yahoo's shareholders, eyes misty recalling a near $120-per-share price during the dot-com boom, the $31 Microsoft is offering for each Yahoo share is nice, but nowhere near the former heights those shares once reached. For Google, which competes with both Microsoft and Yahoo, the deal is rightly seen as competition and a challenge, one which Google is poised to oppose.


For the rest of us, well, there's not much there, yet. Microsoft's "Live Search" is good, but not Google-killing; Yahoo's search engine is very good, but Google has leapt into the number-one spot with grit, determination, "viral" marketing and, oh yes, a better product. Or at least a product that much of the world believes is better.


This is, however, a case where the whole might equal a lot more than the sum of the parts. There are millions of people using Yahoo's e-mail services, with an untold number paying $20 per year for extra online storage. They're already loyal to the Yahoo "brand." Microsoft's customer base is well known: just about everyone with a computer, Macs included, uses one Microsoft product or another. The online base for Microsoft is substantial as well.


For many observing this deal, the question of online advertising is central. Can a Microsoft-Yahoo team take a leading position in selling ads? It's possible, but one of the key lessons of the dot-com boom and bust is that winning combinations aren't always apparent, or guaranteed. Bigness counts, but not always; after all, Yahoo was once exponentially bigger than Google.


However, much of the chatter about online advertising may overlook, again, the question of online applications. This is one area where Google has made some inroads, offering word processing, spreadsheets and presentations online. All of these are compatible with Microsoft's equivalents, and Microsoft has its own online versions of key applications, something to be discussed here further in coming weeks.


But if Microsoft can combine the online apps with both Yahoo's reach and online ad sales, and the game can suddenly change. The two firms together would have something special to give that vast audience: online applications that are as identical to their desktop counterparts as Microsoft wants them to be, available globally.


Think about it: With sufficient computing power and Internet connectivity, you could be connected to your work anywhere in the world, via a "thin" notebook or desktop computer. If the software application and your data both reside on the Internet, then you don't need as much hardware power as you might otherwise. That could expand productivity on many levels, as well as make powerful applications available to those not otherwise able to afford them.


It would be interesting to see both Yahoo's e-mail and Microsoft's Hotmail augmented with some of the strengths of, say, Microsoft Outlook, but in an ad-supported, Web based form. The advertising would have to be somewhat discrete, since looking at a big Coca-Cola ad might not be all that interesting or helpful in an office setting. But there are ways to "monetize" such applications, I believe, and I wonder if this isn't part of Microsoft's grand design.


Of course, time will tell: the deal will face strict scrutiny in many quarters, likely including the Congress and the Justice Department's antitrust division. If it clears those hurdles, not to mention those of Yahoo's board and shareholders, we may be on the verge of a brave new world in applications, one that will be fascinating to watch.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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