Microsoft said Monday that it has increased its board of directors to 10 members, adding Reed Hastings, CEO and founder of Netflix. "Reed's track record for delivering innovative and disruptive technologies to market is very impressive," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in a statement. Hastings will be added to the board's finance committee.
At its board meeting, Microsoft directors also approved a 10-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, to be payable June 14 to shareholders of record as of May 17.
This is a sad mistake. Netflix was a good idea - mailing DVD's for the price of a first class stamp (minus some discount, e.g. for pre-sorting). But disruptive technology is not what gave birth to Netflix or what allowed it to have a day in the sun. The Netflix model levered the then lack of any material monetization of catalog films.
Now, Blockbuster is doing it. Wal-Mart is making 60,000 catalog titles available online for mail-order purchase starting this June or July. Imagine the price points from Wal-Mart. VOD is going through huge growth and that is very much owing to ever increasing roll in of catalog films to the VOD offerings of cable companies, etc.
It seems that all of Reed Hastings huffing and puffing has created an image of media expertise. Again, I think it is a truly a sad mistake and attests to what people say are Microsoft?s weaknesses. Of all the choices out there, why Reed Hastings? Did he know someone at Microsoft?
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
Now, Blockbuster is doing it. Wal-Mart is making 60,000 catalog titles available online for mail-order purchase starting this June or July. Imagine the price points from Wal-Mart. VOD is going through huge growth and that is very much owing to ever increasing roll in of catalog films to the VOD offerings of cable companies, etc.
It seems that all of Reed Hastings huffing and puffing has created an image of media expertise. Again, I think it is a truly a sad mistake and attests to what people say are Microsoft?s weaknesses. Of all the choices out there, why Reed Hastings? Did he know someone at Microsoft?