Year in review: In their own words
The threat posed by Linux, adjusting to a changing market and regulatory concerns topped the list of issues tech leaders wanted to talk about in 2003.
Newsmakers:
Straight talk from tech leaders
The threat posed by Linux, adjusting to a changing market and regulatory concerns topped the list of issues that tech leaders wanted to talk about in 2003.
When Steve Ballmer began the year, he sounded a lot less concerned about the threat that open-source software posed to Microsoft's business than he--or lifelong business pal Bill Gates--sounded, as 2004 drew near.
In what may go down in the annals as its breakout year, the open-source software movement forced companies as far afield as the SCO Group and Sun Microsystems to scramble for answers. Sometimes, it took the form of lawsuits. Other times, it manifested itself in surprising merger deals. In between, there were enough catcalls and middle-finger salutes to keep readers riveted.
Along the way, a constellation of tech executives sat down with CNET News.com to talk about how they planned to contend with the Linux challenge, which Harvard Professor Clay Christensen has famously described as a disruptive technology. SCO CEO Darl McBride, who decided to go to court to defend his company's intellectual property, said there is a flaw in the system that allows for unauthorized code copying.
That drew a sharp retort from Linux inventor Linus Torvalds, who suggested that this was all a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that open-source software is fast gathering momentum among people who formerly ran Unix or other operating systems on their computers.
Elsewhere, change was in the air, as limp information technology demand forced companies to find fresh approaches. So it was that Sun's Scott McNealy and Gateway's Ted Waitt, former highfliers now struggling to recapture their former momentum, explained to us how they planned to rebound in 2004.
Other tech companies decided to seize the moment by growing through acquisitions. The enterprise software business, a traditionally sleepy sector, was a source of headline news for much of the second half of 2003, as a donnybrook struggle erupted between PeopleSoft and Oracle.
Not one to mince his words, PeopleSoft's Craig Conway spoke his mind about what he thought of former boss Larry Ellison. For his part, Oracle's jet-setting CEO ducked our hard-charging reporters. But his right-arm man, former Wall Street hotshot Chuck Phillips, told us that the chase would continue in 2004, until Oracle nabbed its prey.
Meanwhile, myriad new telecommunications issues had us talking to the likes of FCC Commissioner Michael Powell and Internet legend Vint Cerf to make sense of the confusing--and fast-paced--intersection of different technologies coalescing around the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell would have been amazed.
Michael Dell and Carly Fiorina stopped by our offices to size up the state of the industry and how their megasize companies intend to flourish in an increasingly hardscrabble marketplace.
--Charles Cooper
Microsoft: No sleep lost over Linux
CEO Steve Ballmer talks about the software maker's bid to gain a stronger foothold in corporate data centers, and he discounts the threat presented by the Penguinistas.April 25, 2003
Why SCO decided to take IBM to court
CEO Darl McBride explains the motivation behind the company's controversial lawsuit against Big Blue and its implications for the future of open source.June 16, 2003
Readying Gateway's post-PC future
CEO Ted Waitt explains why he wants to move the company away from its roots as a PC maker. He's tried twice before to pull off a new strategy. Will the third time be a charm?July 1, 2003
Torvalds: What, me worry?
Linux creator Linus Torvalds sounds off on SCO Group's lawsuit against IBM, intellectual property in the open-source world and the future of the Linux operating system.July 8, 2003
The refashioning of HP
CEO Carly Fiorina has big ambitions for taking on Dell and energizing her company's corporate culture. But can she reinvigorate sales while IT demand remains in the dumps?July 22, 2003
A high-tech bridge to Middle East peace?
Shimon Peres explains why he still believes that technology cooperation can lay the economic groundwork to help end the region's Arab-Israeli conflict.date
Conway to Ellison: It's over
PeopleSoft's CEO says Oracle's plan to disrupt its J.D. Edwards deal has failed. Now he's planning the future of the industry's second biggest business-management software company.Aug. 28, 2003
Vint Cerf hears VoIP calling
The technologist widely regarded as the father of the Internet explains in an interview why traditional telecommunications carriers are finally taking voice over IP seriously.Sept. 10, 2003
The new strategy under the Sun
CEO Scott McNealy discusses his company's attempts to outdo Microsoft and IBM, as well as his attitude toward open source and Sun's latest round of layoffs.Sept. 19, 2003
Parsing with Powell
Emerging issues over the Internet present FCC Chairman Michael Powell with a myriad of new questions to ask and decisions to make.Oct. 1, 2003
Riding the next technology wave
John Sculley talks about several new technologies he believes are already transforming IT in subtle--and not so subtle--ways.Oct. 2, 2003
Bill Gates: Unplugged
Microsoft's chairman compares Linux to Unix in the 1970s and urges people to "be careful" with utility computing.Nov. 19, 2003
The pragmatic radical
CEO Michael Dell is about to apply his tried-and-true business formula far beyond the PC. Is he worried? Don't count on it.Nov. 21, 2003
A two-pronged approach to cybersecurity
The U.S. government's new cybersecurity czar, Amit Yoran, says security levels still fall short.Dec. 1, 2003
Newsmakers:
Straight talk from tech leaders
The threat posed by Linux, adjusting to a changing market and regulatory concerns topped the list of issues that tech leaders wanted to talk about in 2003.
When Steve Ballmer began the year, he sounded a lot less concerned about the threat that open-source software posed to Microsoft's business than he--or lifelong business pal Bill Gates--sounded, as 2004 drew near.
In what may go down in the annals as its breakout year, the open-source software movement forced companies as far afield as the SCO Group and Sun Microsystems to scramble for answers. Sometimes, it took the form of lawsuits. Other times, it manifested itself in surprising merger deals. In between, there were enough catcalls and middle-finger salutes to keep readers riveted.
Along the way, a constellation of tech executives sat down with CNET News.com to talk about how they planned to contend with the Linux challenge, which Harvard Professor Clay Christensen has famously described as a disruptive technology. SCO CEO Darl McBride, who decided to go to court to defend his company's intellectual property, said there is a flaw in the system that allows for unauthorized code copying.
That drew a sharp retort from Linux inventor Linus Torvalds, who suggested that this was all a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that open-source software is fast gathering momentum among people who formerly ran Unix or other operating systems on their computers.
Elsewhere, change was in the air, as limp information technology demand forced companies to find fresh approaches. So it was that Sun's Scott McNealy and Gateway's Ted Waitt, former highfliers now struggling to recapture their former momentum, explained to us how they planned to rebound in 2004.
Other tech companies decided to seize the moment by growing through acquisitions. The enterprise software business, a traditionally sleepy sector, was a source of headline news for much of the second half of 2003, as a donnybrook struggle erupted between PeopleSoft and Oracle.
Not one to mince his words, PeopleSoft's Craig Conway spoke his mind about what he thought of former boss Larry Ellison. For his part, Oracle's jet-setting CEO ducked our hard-charging reporters. But his right-arm man, former Wall Street hotshot Chuck Phillips, told us that the chase would continue in 2004, until Oracle nabbed its prey.
Meanwhile, myriad new telecommunications issues had us talking to the likes of FCC Commissioner Michael Powell and Internet legend Vint Cerf to make sense of the confusing--and fast-paced--intersection of different technologies coalescing around the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell would have been amazed.
Michael Dell and Carly Fiorina stopped by our offices to size up the state of the industry and how their megasize companies intend to flourish in an increasingly hardscrabble marketplace.
--Charles Cooper
Microsoft: No sleep lost over Linux
CEO Steve Ballmer talks about the software maker's bid to gain a stronger foothold in corporate data centers, and he discounts the threat presented by the Penguinistas.April 25, 2003
Why SCO decided to take IBM to court
CEO Darl McBride explains the motivation behind the company's controversial lawsuit against Big Blue and its implications for the future of open source.June 16, 2003
Readying Gateway's post-PC future
CEO Ted Waitt explains why he wants to move the company away from its roots as a PC maker. He's tried twice before to pull off a new strategy. Will the third time be a charm?July 1, 2003
Torvalds: What, me worry?
Linux creator Linus Torvalds sounds off on SCO Group's lawsuit against IBM, intellectual property in the open-source world and the future of the Linux operating system.July 8, 2003
The refashioning of HP
CEO Carly Fiorina has big ambitions for taking on Dell and energizing her company's corporate culture. But can she reinvigorate sales while IT demand remains in the dumps?July 22, 2003
A high-tech bridge to Middle East peace?
Shimon Peres explains why he still believes that technology cooperation can lay the economic groundwork to help end the region's Arab-Israeli conflict.date
Conway to Ellison: It's over
PeopleSoft's CEO says Oracle's plan to disrupt its J.D. Edwards deal has failed. Now he's planning the future of the industry's second biggest business-management software company.Aug. 28, 2003
Vint Cerf hears VoIP calling
The technologist widely regarded as the father of the Internet explains in an interview why traditional telecommunications carriers are finally taking voice over IP seriously.Sept. 10, 2003
The new strategy under the Sun
CEO Scott McNealy discusses his company's attempts to outdo Microsoft and IBM, as well as his attitude toward open source and Sun's latest round of layoffs.Sept. 19, 2003
Parsing with Powell
Emerging issues over the Internet present FCC Chairman Michael Powell with a myriad of new questions to ask and decisions to make.Oct. 1, 2003
Riding the next technology wave
John Sculley talks about several new technologies he believes are already transforming IT in subtle--and not so subtle--ways.Oct. 2, 2003
Bill Gates: Unplugged
Microsoft's chairman compares Linux to Unix in the 1970s and urges people to "be careful" with utility computing.Nov. 19, 2003
The pragmatic radical
CEO Michael Dell is about to apply his tried-and-true business formula far beyond the PC. Is he worried? Don't count on it.Nov. 21, 2003
A two-pronged approach to cybersecurity
The U.S. government's new cybersecurity czar, Amit Yoran, says security levels still fall short.Dec. 1, 2003