In message <[log in to unmask]>, Bill Brandt
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>On the other hand the Board makes a point that Walter Hewlett hasn't
>suggested any alternatives...
So if you were about to put your hand in the fire, and I said 'Don't put
your hand in the fire!' I'd be open to criticism for not suggesting any
alternatives?
Anyway, they didn't say that: what they said was:
'While opposing the merger, he has failed to propose any alternatives
that your Board hasn't already analyzed, debated and rejected because
they fail to create sufficient shareowner value'.
Well, they would wouldn't they? I mean, if they hadn't rejected them,
they'd be *doing* them, and Walter wouldn't be unhappy.
So somehow, to escape their criticism, he has to come up with something
they haven't thought of? Something the massed resources, not just of the
board, but also of all the HP staffers and any consultants they might
have hired, had missed? Pretty tall order, I'd say.....
(And BTW, the above does not indicate in any way how I feel about the
merger. What I'm trying to point out, as a philosophy major, is the
sophistry inherent in the Board's letter.
I had to go into computers after uni, as 'the philosophy companies
weren't hiring'. But what a pity that no-one on the HP Board has been
able to benefit from the sort of intellectually rigorous thinking that
majoring in philosophy requires and so avoid publishing these specious
arguments...)
>and their revenues would increase
>dramatically - doubling the sales force (where were they with the 3000?) ;-)
Well, they have to say that, don't they? And no doubt they believe
it....
But when is the last time you saw an HP salesperson? HP let the VARs and
the third-party channels do all the selling - the only 'salespeople'
they need are the channel stuffers......
>Meanwhile my HP3000 hums merrily along unaware of the storm around it...
Ours threw the most enormous whoopsie shortly after Nov 14th, and all
Carly's horses and all Carly's men couldn't put it back together again.
Eventually, they had to bring a new one.
They *know*, you know, these machines.... :-)
PS - the HP techs told us it would be 'OK' that it didn't have the same
HPSUSAN.... Pah. After 4 or 5 key products quit running because of
this, the man with the sonic screwdriver was requested in no uncertain
terms, and arrived, express-delivery, to attend to it.....
--
Roy Brown 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be
Kelmscott Ltd useful, or believe to be beautiful' William Morris
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