Monthly Archives: November 2003

The clock is ticking

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

On Wednesday (Europe time), Microsoft is scheduled to begin a three-day trial at the hands of the European Union (EU), which has charged the firm with anti-competive practices on two counts: server interoperability and media player integration. The investigation has been ongoing for four years.

The Commission, in an August press release, said that the company’s integration of Windows Media Player with the operating system “weakens competition on the merits, stifles product innovation, and ultimately reduces consumer choice.”

The Commission also said evidence confirms an earlier finding that Microsoft has leveraged its dominant position in the PC market (95% of personal computers run on Windows) into the low-end server market by exploiting its knowledge (engineering) of how the PC communicates with the server.

These matters are not trivial, despite the light reporting in U.S. media. The EU can fine Microsoft up to 10% of global revenue, which is more than $30bn a year.
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A black eye at CBS

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Steve Outing, of Poynter, alerts us to Salon’s posting of the full script of the controversial CBS mini-series, “The Reagans.” Was the cancelled show unfair? Judge for yourself, at least based on the script (who knows what scenes were cut). The Web delivers. Again.

The fact that Salon, a liberal publication, “outed” the script may add more fuel to the conservative view that the mini-series (docudrama, biopic) reflected “media liberal bias.”
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Update notes: iTunes, “Big Mac”

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Apple outsells Napster
Latest news from Apple is that the iTunes store sold 1.5 million songs during the same period that Napster sold only 300,000 songs. Roxio, which owns the revived Napster, contested the claims, as it announced a deal with Penn State University. Apple’s iTunes effort was reported here on 18 October, with 21 October follow-up

Related reporting in Forbes (7 Nov); The Guardian (7 Nov); Wired News (10 Nov); Seattle Times (10 Nov)

VPI Supercomputer
On Saturday, the Seattle P-I reported on this innovation, the use of G5 Macs to create the world’s third fastest supercomputer. See my 30 October blog.

Also reported in CBS News Canada (7 Nov); Fredericksberg.com (8 Nov); The Indian Express (9 Nov)

Media partners on the rise

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

The Washington Post has examined partnerships occurring between media that, in other times, might have thought of themselves as competitors. Today they’re a source of (cheap?) content.

One example: The New York Times partners with The Discovery Channel (Discovery Times cable channel). On its web site, it partners with the Financial Times, CBS/Marketwatch, and the German weekly Der Spiegel.

The Times is not alone. Partnerships between television stations and newspapers are growing, as well as the newspaper-to-newspaper relationship evidenced by the Times. It allows companies to expand content without having to hire new journalists. The “c” word (convergence) isn’t mentioned, though.

There is a danger that consolidation could reduce the number of independent voices. Of course, that phenomena already exists. Just go to news.google.com and check out a hot story … one that has dozens of hits. You’ll see wire story after wire story.

But it is hard to identify the players without a playing card.