ShadowRAM: March 25, 2002
- COULD HP-COMPAQ HAVE ITS NAME ON A BALLPARK?
- NBA HALL OF FAMER MOSES MALONE ACCEPTS IBM'S AWARD
- CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? SPRINT'S SIGNAL GETS BLOCKED
- The merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer isn't even certified, yet the new company is already being drawn into the Enron debacle. During a press conference announcing that Compaq shareholders had approved the merger by a 9-1 margin, Compaq Chairman and CEO Michael Capellas was asked if HP would take over the naming rights for the Houston Astros ballpark, formerly called Enron Field. Capellas hedged his bet by saying both HP and Compaq are committed to supporting the communities in which they do business. Maybe they could call it Fiorina Field.
- Capellas also revealed that some current Compaq executives will be moving to Silicon Valley now that the merger looks like a done deal. He said Peter Blackmore, Compaq's current executive vice president, sales and services, should start house-hunting in Palo Alto, Calif. Blackmore has been tapped to head the merged company's IT Infrastructure group.
- Apparently, the competition for the spotlight last week was too much for Ingram Micro. With all the media hype surrounding the HP-Compaq merger vote, the distributor delayed an announcement about its updated XSP program, a spokesperson said. Ingram Micro recently concluded an eight-month pilot with vendor partners Exenet and NetLedger and about 38 service providers. The scheduled announcement was supposed to reveal additional vendor partners as well as a renewed program and focus.
- In its last update in December, Ingram Micro said it was working to develop more systems and infrastructure to work between the service providers, the distributor and its partners. Software licenses represent the fastest-growing part of its business, increasing more than 30 percent from a year ago, the company said.
- IBM hired NBA Hall of Famer and former Philadelphia 76er Moses Malone to accept the vendor's Channel Champion award at the CRN banquet during this month's Solution Provider XChange in New Orleans. During dinner conversation, Malone said he didn't think Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever. His reasoning: Big guys such as himself get beat up in the trenches every night, and centers play an entirely different game than shooting guards. He's right, of course, but life doesn't always make sense.
- We thought the practice of using "booth babes" died years ago. But we found it alive and well at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association's Wireless 2002 show in Orlando, Fla., last week. At the pre-show Mobile Focus event held primarily for press and analysts, attendees saw more cleavage than products. We heard complaints from a number of women, including the show's sponsors.
- While much of the industry contemplated faster wireless data networks at the show, talk about improving traditional cellular voice calls persevered. Dropped calls and coverage gaps are an accepted reality by most mobile workers, but at the show, Sprint executives got a firsthand demonstration of that frustration, as Sprint customers were unable to make or receive cellular phone calls from within the conference.
- Cellular carriers normally bring equipment to boost signals around the conference area. A rogue broadcaster was using Sprint's spectrum and blocking transmissions. By Tuesday, however, Sprint engineers were at the show attempting to isolate the culprit.