ShadowRAM: July 22, 2002

• MICROSOFT IS NO TRADE-SHOW CHEAPSKATE
• STORAGE SAGA: MARK LEWIS LEAVES HP FOR EMC
• APPLE RETAIL STORES TAKING BITE OUT OF VARs' BUSINESS?
• The rest of the industry may be doing away with the neat gifts you get when you attend a trade show, but not Microsoft: It gave attendees of Fusion 2002 in Los Angeles a rolling travel bag that features a snap-away knapsack and a pouch for a laptop.
• We don't know the price tag, but Microsoft also rented out Universal Studios one evening, and nerds galore were scoring the rides. And as if that wasn't enough, Microsoft threw a party on the Santa Monica Pier for its U.S. partners that included a concert by Los Lobos. Now that's what we call the Hotel California.
• But there was plenty of dirt beneath the happy facade. Word from some top customers is that Microsoft is strategically moving closer to Dell and away from the new Hewlett-Packard. From what we hear, Microsoft doesn't like the Linux message being put on the street by Carly and Company.
• Meanwhile, Mark Lewis' surprise departure earlier this month from HP to rival EMC didn't please his former employer. Compaq veteran Lewis had been tapped as vice president of worldwide marketing and solutions for HP storage following the merger.

• Sources close to Lewis said he was made an offer he couldn't refuse to join EMC as CTO and executive vice president of new ventures. But it wasn't just the money. Several observers said Lewis wasn't happy he was passed over to head HP's storage business in favor of his former boss, Howard Elias.
• HP folks threw a big after-hours farewell party for Lewis. We're not sure, however, whether it made up for the way he was supposedly ushered off campus when he resigned. An HP spokesperson said HP policy is that anyone who leaves to join a competitor is removed from the company immediately.
• At first glance, the choice of EMC as a new home seems odd for someone like Lewis. After all, EMC and HP are not only each other's biggest rivals, they also have diametrically opposed views about how storage should be done. Ignoring for a moment the big arrays it OEMs from Hitachi Data Systems, HP is the biggest proponent of modular storage, where capacity can be added in chunks. Meanwhile, EMC is the biggest proponent of monolithic storage arrays, which are huge self-contained boxes.
• But wait. Listen closely and you will hear the sound of rubber mallets and screwdrivers building new modular arrays at EMC. Rumors of such arrays have been floating for some time, and an official close to EMC confirmed that they could be shipping "before the leaves turn."
• At Macworld New York last week, some Apple solution providers said Microsoft should stop grumbling about sales of Office v. X, its Office version for Mac OS X. In a published report, Kevin Browne, the head of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, blamed Apple for the product's disappointing sales, saying the computer maker has dragged its feet in pushing users to OS X. But two New York-based Apple VARs said Microsoft should look more closely at Office v. X's pricing ($499 list for the full version, $299 list for the upgrade).
• Apple last week opened its 32nd retail store, in Manhattan's SoHo district. In an earlier call with analysts, Apple CFO Fred Anderson said the stores aren't igniting conflicts with Apple VARs. But in a keynote at Macworld New York last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the stores are drawing a wide scope of visitors, including small-business and education customers.