Another insightful post from SmoothSpan, this time on Microsoft and search.

Quoted: "That was the most astounding software demo I've every seen," Wozniak tells Tech Ticker after seeing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Bing at the All Things Digital Conference here.

Nice DocVerse mention on TechCrunch.

Quoted: When Microsoft launched Live Workspaces last year we were sufficiently underwhelmed. But Microsoft didn't have to wow us. The software giant could, and ...

Was just talking about this over dinner.

Quoted: So far, he said, the impact has been most noticeable in the market for premium online display advertisements. Companies often place these ads to promote their brands on specialized sections of large internet portals. In a downturn, Lindsay said, companies tend to shift their budgets toward areas that can provide a more immediate and obvious return, such as internet search ads. That could benefit Google Inc., which beat Wall Street expectations with its quarterly earnings last week.

More on the Zoho story. They have employed some interesting tactics...

Quoted: Pay one year of college fees. This is a salary, not a loan, with no strings attached. According to Raju, 90% join Zoho at the end of that year, but there is no obligation. This gives Zoho an edge with the brightest at school as they have an unusual offer.

Nice story. However, I find myself using the lighter-weight Google and 37Signal offerings over Zoho.

Quoted: Defying Conventional Wisdom
...
Everything about this story is improbable. And gloriously old fashioned. When I met Raju Vegesna, I kept on thinking this was some kind of time warp. Zoho has simply ignored much of the conventional wisdom. Consider:

A contrarian view.

Quoted: They may need new leadership to do that. But selling this asset to Microsoft just because they had the wrong leadership and probably still have the wrong leadership is a mistake.

Quoted: Microsoft trades at a healthy 4.55 times sales. So every $1 in the acquired company is theoretically worth $4.55. Pretty profitable business, these acquisitions, no? Unfortunately for the Redmond Boys, the GOOG can turn that $1 into $10.17. To over simplify things, they can afford to pay twice as much as Microsoft and still come out ahead.