Andreessen sells out -- again

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http://www.zdii.com/industry_list.asp?mode=news&doc_id=ZE504612

> THE DAY AHEAD: Andreessen:
> Microsoft sellout or just savvy?
>
> By Larry Dignan
>
> The world of technology is known for its holy wars.  Linux vs.
> Windows. Java vs. Windows. Everything vs.  Windows. In the end,
> however, all the posturing gets tossed out as soon as money
> enters the picture.
>
> We see it all day on the talkbacks to ZDNet stories.  The passion
> in the tech sector is intense. That's what makes this sector so
> much fun. You just can't get caught up in the emotion --
> especially when playing tech stocks.
>
> Don't believe me? Ask Marc Andreessen, chairman of an e-business
> infrastructure startup called Loudcloud.  You remember
> Andreessen. He's the guy who was the Web's original poster boy.
> He co-founded Netscape, made initial public offerings a dinner
> topic and sold out to America Online (NYSE: AOL) after Netscape
> lost the browser war to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
>
> You'd think Andreessen, a key figure in the Microsoft antitrust
> trial, wouldn't be so supportive about the software giant's
> latest plan to rule the world via interactive services. You'd be
> wrong. Life is too short to hold a grudge.
>
> Andreessen's Loudcloud announced an alliance with Microsoft
> Thursday and backed its new integration-on-steroids plan, dubbed
> Microsoft.Net.  Microsoft will give Loudcloud's services a boost,
> and Bill Gates gets Andreessen in his corner for once.  Microsoft
> products and technologies are now the preferred platform for
> Loudcloud's suite infrastructure services.
>
> And it gets better. ``Microsoft products are key to providing
> highly scalable and reliable infrastructure services to
> Loudcloud's customers,'' said Andreessen, chairman of Loudcloud,
> in a statement. ``Our strategic alliance with Microsoft in
> combination with our vision of delivering best-of-breed software
> infrastructure as a service will enable breakthrough performance
> for our eBusiness customers.''
>
> Some observers would say Andreessen is a sellout.  After all,
> he's essentially in bed with the company that helped make
> Netscape an Internet footnote. That's too harsh though.
> Andreessen is just following the money.

"following the money" != "sellout" !?

> You had to see it coming. In an interview with Inter@ctive Week a
> little more than a year ago, Andreessen tipped his hand. "This is
> a ruthlessly logical business at the end of the day. And you can
> fight that, but I would rather not spend a lot of effort fighting
> that. I would rather spend more effort trying to figure out what
> to do as a result of that."
>
> Andreessen's point is clear -- religious wars don't pay.  The
> tech sector is a place where Microsoft would buy Novell (Nasdaq:
> NOVL) if it weren't for antitrust regulators. It's a place where
> Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) teams up with Microsoft, and Oracle (Nasdaq:
> ORCL) wants to emulate Microsoft's business practices.  What's
> next? Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) and Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT)
> getting chummy with Microsoft?
>
> Andreessen's partnership with Microsoft can be cooked down to
> three letters -- IPO. Even though his Loudcloud isn't even a year
> old yet, you can bet your bottom that it'll have a hot IPO at
> some point. Loudcloud has the buzzwords (e-business and
> infrastructure), the backing (Benchmark Capital and Morgan
> Stanley Dean Witter) and the high-profile tech partner
> (Microsoft). It should be a lucrative IPO. The Netscape-Microsoft
> war is long gone; now it's time for Andreessen to make some
> money.

--
Gerald Oskoboiny <[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/

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