ShadowRAM: May 19, 2003
This has conspiracy theorists out in force. They speculate that Microsoft is behind the whole mess. After all, it used to own a piece of SCO and what could benefit Redmond more than a bona fide schism in the Linux world?
Something smells funny about last week's episode involving Microsoft and its "iLoo." Last Monday, three Microsoft representatives told news agencies that an April 30 release trumpeting the Internet-enabled portable toilet was a hoax and apologized. On Tuesday, the company reversed itself, saying the iLoo was real, but the project has been killed. The "product" in question was described as a portable toilet equipped with a wireless keyboard and a height-adjustable plasma screen with high-speed Internet access. Microsoft's MSN division was "in the process of converting a portable loo to create a unique experience" in time for the summer festival season, according to the missive.
It appears the release of the next-gen Oracle database is a bit farther out than previously thought. Oracle quietly pulled its TPC.org benchmarks from the group's site last week, it seems. The rule with such benchmarks is that the tested product must be available within six months of the posting. The now-disappeared benchmarks were posted in November. The postings listed an Oracle 10i database. The current product is Oracle 9i Release 2, which has been out for a year.
If you want to be a national Hewlett-Packard reseller, be prepared to invest in more people and buildings. To be designated as a national player, a solution provider must have a presence in 11 different selling districts, solution providers say. Premerger HP required four districts, while Compaq had five, resellers said. The problem is, the way the territories are divided, a solution provider with an office in New Jersey can't sell in New York. And anyone with facilities in Chicago can't sell in southern Illinois.
Here's further proof that IBM is intent on stamping out BEA Systems, which Gartner recently reported lost the top spot in Java app server market share. A solution provider tells us that BEA recently wanted to do some work with IBM at a WebSphere Innovation Center (WIC) using BEA's app server in conjunction with IBM WebSphere. WICs are where IBM partners with solution providers to deliver solutions using its WebSphere line. According to the solution provider, IBM nixed the idea. Our source also said IBM is planning a WIC in Milpitas, Calif.,"BEA's backyard",specifically "to crush BEA."