Robert Cringely has post where he echo’s something that I have been wondering about myself - what if Microsoft’s offer to buy Yahoo is nothing more than a big bluff?

When the offer first surfaced and everyone started talking about the possibility of a purple Microsoft in the future I struggled to figure out just where the mesh was and the reasoning behind the whole thing. As Robert says in his post:

But what if Microsoft wasn’t serious about its offer? Well then things start to get REALLY interesting.

Certainly Microsoft’s offer for Yahoo has thrown that company and several others into a tizzy. Yahoo can’t be getting much work done, that’s for sure. And if you believe the press reports, AOL and News Corp have been dragged into the strategizing, too, and are subject to disruption. For Yahoo, as the primary target, overall efficiency in the company will have dropped instantly by 20 percent just because people will be talking at the watercooler rather than doing their work. And Yahoo wasn’t a very efficient place to begin with. This alone has some value for Microsoft, where I will guarantee you the distraction is far less.

Screwing with the minds of Yahoo has value to Microsoft and screwing with AOL and News Corp, too, well that’s just a bonus.

He also points out that this isn’t a new tactic for Microsoft either as it has used similar ploys in the past principally with Borland and Intuit. You got to admit that it definitely would put a different spin on the whole matter eh. The thing is that if this was Microsoft’s intention what the hell will they do if Yahoo calls the bluff and Microsoft ends up owning the company.

Conversation Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo