Oh no you don’t
I’ll say it. Microsoft’s bid to buy Yahoo stinks. I know that Yahoo is a corporation, and that a corporation is ultimately responsible to its shareholders, who probably welcome Microsoft’s $20+ per share markup on their stock. However, I can’t see how this will benefit the online world.
Microsoft is notoriously bad when it comes to the web. When is the the last time you’ve ever heard anyone say, “I don’t know but I bet I can find it on Microsoft Live Search?” Or, “You can see my photos on Windows Live Spaces?” (sorry, Ben). You don’t. While Google was able to build the defining search engine of our time, and while Yahoo is smart enough to buy things and keep them intact, Microsoft has been nothing short of a train wreck when it comes to doing anything interesting on the web.
I admit that besides Yahoo Groups, Flickr, Upcoming, del.icio.us, and the YUI tools, I don’t make much use of Yahoo anymore. Actually that’s quite a few things. So I naturally fear the intrusion of Microsoft and their heavy-handed way of doing things. It’s sad that in their fruitless quest for the top, Microsoft feels that they need to consume one of, if not the, true progenitors of today’s web.
