apple buying AOL?
just a thought:
iTMS is now integrated in aol services...
time warner has "canceled" the aol in its name...
apple has lots of cash...
would that make sense?
+ a big community
+ aol is a software and content company
+ it would show MANY people the advantages of apple (imagine an aqua gui on a window machine
)
+ you can serve secure music, movies etc to the people...
what is the actual "price" of aol?
iTMS is now integrated in aol services...
time warner has "canceled" the aol in its name...
apple has lots of cash...
would that make sense?
+ a big community
+ aol is a software and content company
+ it would show MANY people the advantages of apple (imagine an aqua gui on a window machine

+ you can serve secure music, movies etc to the people...
what is the actual "price" of aol?
Comments
AOL is more than Apple could afford, and rather undesirable anyway...
Well, second only to Apple buying Sony or Microsoft.
Once iTMS is entrenched on Windows, Apple won't need AOL anymore, but the terms of the alliance will make it sensible to keep them around - it's no skin off Apple's nose if fewer and fewer referrals come from AOL over time. The point is to show people that they can get 25 million potential customers now, when it matters most.
I don't think Apple will attempt any large mergers or acquisitions, frankly. They're expensive, they're risky, and it takes years to assimilate the two companies, or at least settle them into some sort of coexistence (Compaq, for instance, has utterly failed to assimilate Digital Equipment even after all these years). If Apple acquires companies they'll be small; if the companies are large, Apple will simply work with them. It's much easier to go that way in the long run.
Originally posted by k_munic
jwhat is the actual "price" of aol?
Well, prior to AOL Time Warner posting a net loss of US$99 Billion, they were worth nearly US$155 Billion. Now, reports set the net worth of the company at about US$58 Billion. That's just its net worth. You should be so lucky as to get to buy the company at that price.
It's damn near the largest corporation on the planet, man.
@brad: hey, one of my worst idea ever was to drink & drive...
@amorph: no tactical mergers with "not business core" related companies - you're right...
@ryaxnb: from my point of view. what is earthlink? never seen here in this part of the planet!
@LoCash: aha. nice price for a company with such (see above comments) an image.
ok, it was just a thought.
have a nice weekend, everybody!
Anyhow, I don't know if you paid attention to it all, but the AOL and Time Warner merger has been a complete and total nightmare. It's largely been heralded as the number one worst business decision of all time; the merger that never should have been. I don't think anybody is going to want to buy that company now.