What? No More Battlebots?
That show was always a great place to watch CEOs sling mud at each other and otherwise amuse assembled IT multitudes.
Four years ago, Scott McNealy and Steve Ballmer brandished hammer and tongs at each other, albeit on separate days. The former characterized software as a feature of hardware. The latter called that the "most absurd statement I've heard in my life." Flash forward to this week where the camaraderie between the two was almost disconcerting.
Of course, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft are now six months into a detente, pushing all sorts of interop between their often-conflicting worlds. Is it me, or was it more fun before?
At one point, a Gartner exec pointed out to Ballmer that Microsoft is friends with IBM and then it's not. That it's friends with Sun, then it's not, and characterized the new relationship model as "promiscuously antagonistic." Ballmer, with feigned exasperation protestd: "We can't win [with you].two years ago it was why can't you be friends with these guys, now it's promiscuous antagonism."
Of course, there were still plenty of slams. Both McNealy and Ballmer said they'd be glad to tell you why Windows 2003 kicks Solaris' ass or vice versa. And McNealy let barbs fly at Dell, and IBM and HP.
Intel CEO Craig Barrett was feisty in his disdain for the lack of substantive debate about important tech issues from the presidential candidates. He also batted back questions about the over-exposed Nicholas Carr book "Does IT Matter?" telling his Gartner interviewer that he hoped their discussion would get more consequential.
But overall, there was noticeably less vitriol. Is this industry growing up? How sad is that?
BASEBALL FEVER GRIPS HUB (AND VENDORS)
AOL and Major League Baseball Advanced Media--that's MLBAM to you--will bring World Series results to your very own buddy list.That way, when history happens and you're one of the three baseball fans on earth NOT glued to your set or radio or walkman, you will still know about it.
Not to be outdone, Groove Networks offers a 60-day free download of its Groove Virtual Office collaboration software for employees who might need to work a bit more from home after late-night games. (Weren't they offering a free trial before? I think so.)
Update: My bad. the news here is not the freebie trial, but the fact that Groove will give buyers of the product a 19.18 percent discount on purchase price if they buy before October 31. That gives you a coupla days folks. 19.18, you wonder? Well, 1918 was the last year the Red Sox won it all. Folks must enter promotion code "P-ReverseTheCurse" to get the deal.
Such was the baseball drama during this week's ALCS and NLCS games, that Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer's first question to Microsoft CEO Ballmer Wednesday morning was not about Microsoft's new-found love for partner Sun Microsystems, or about the looming Linux threat. Rather it was: "What did you think about the A-rod play?"
Ballmer's reply: "It was clearly an illegal play. But a heads-up illegal play."
(If you're one of the aforementioned non-watchers of the ALCS, you missed seeing N.Y. Yankee Alex Rodriguez karate-chop the ball out of Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo's glove as Arroyo attempted to tag him out. "A-rod" was initially ruled safe, then out according to section 6.1 of the MLB Umpire's Manual . At the very least one might expect A-Rod to remember Arroyo's correct name next time around.)