This is a bit unnerving... (article below edited for length)
At
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/05/26
/BU76071.DTL
Microsoft's Super Online Mall
New Web site will offer all its services for 1-stop shopping
Jon Swartz, Jamie Beckett, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 26, 1998
Microsoft's browser strategy -- which sparked an
antitrust case -- could be small potatoes compared
to the company's plans in e-commerce.
If the software giant has its way, it will become the
pre-eminent middleman of the digital age, taking a
cut of the action from billions of dollars in online
transactions. Microsoft wants to establish itself as a
major Web ``portal'' site, where consumers log on
the Net to shop, manage their money, play games,
exchange e- mail and peruse news.
The company is putting the finishing touches on
``Microsoft Start,'' code name for a super Web site
that will showcase all of its online properties --
from car- buying and travel agency services to
news content, free e-mail and a search engine. It is
scheduled to debut by the end of the year.
-------------------------SNIP------------------------------
Consumers will probably get an eyeful of ``Start''
whenever they use Internet Explorer: The super site
is likely to be heavily promoted with links on the
popular Web browser.
That is why Microsoft's aggressive -- the
government claims illegal -- marketing of Internet
Explorer takes on special meaning. Many believe
the software giant established its browser as a
beachhead on the Internet for its ultimate goal: to have a
hand in nearly every major transaction online.
``Just as Microsoft tied in its browser to its OS, it
will tie in its super site to its browser and,
consequently, its OS,'' said Homer. ``But in this
case, they're taking on a number of established
companies in established markets -- not a lone
startup.''
By controlling the browser market, antitrust
attorney Gary Reback charged, Microsoft ``can
control where your eyes go in Internet commerce.''
``It's as if RCA or Motorola or Sony were trying to
control the content on the TV,'' said Vernon
Keenan, senior analyst at Zona Research in
Redwood City. ``The portal wars are really just
beginning. It's a real battle for content and
eyeballs.''
Ultimately, the software company hopes to take a
cut from every transaction over the Internet that
uses Microsoft technology, chief technologist
Nathan Myhrvold told the Wall Street Journal last
year.
An internal Microsoft memo from last year says as
much, according to the Journal story. ``We are
challenging old and established businesses like
newspapers, travel agencies, automobile dealers,
entertainment guides, travel guides, Yellow Page
directories, magazines and over time many other
areas'' such as online services, the memo says.
``We must devise ways of working with them or
winning away their customers and revenue
streams.''
-------------------------SNIP------------------------------
``If Microsoft chooses to, they can block out
competitors from having access to their audience,''
said Chip Perry, chief executive of AutoConnect,
an Atlanta-based online used-car buying service
launched just last week. ``I think it's something that
any of us in the markets that they've chosen to
compete in should take seriously as a threat to our
ability to build our own brands.''
--
Barry Lee Brisco <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Web Design & Development�- Online Marketing <http://www.ToTheWeb.com>
Connecting Businesswomen in Asia <http://www.women-connect-asia.com>
The Pan-Asian Online Underwater Magazine <http://www.asiandiver.com>
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