HP: It's Creepier Than We Thought
When news broke about HP spying on directors and the press, it looked pretty
bad. But the deeper the press digs,
the
dirtier the whole thing gets. At first, it was easy to blame overzealous
investigators. But it turns out that high-level HP officials were tied to this
thing tighter than a Boy Scout slip knot.
We now know that HP president Bill Hurd was aware of the spying. Bad news.
Then, we learned that HP spied on its own CEO, Carly Fiorina. Badder news. Last,
we found out that HP spied extensively on journalists, sending e-mails that
could trace where they were forwarded. Baddest news.
HP: It's Weirder Than We Thought
Last week, HP was announced as a sponsor for a special
privacy award. I nominate Patricia Dunn for first prize!
HP: Dunn Is Dunn, Maybe More To Come
Speaking of Dunn, HP's chairwoman is now the former chairwoman. She resigned
her post effective immediately on Friday, abandoning her plans to stay through
the end of the year. But that doesn't mean HP is off the hook: This weekend,
a
House panel issued subpoenas calling for three HP executives (including
the company's ethics chief!) to testify about the company's actions.
Microsoft More Intelligent Every Day
Microsoft first just dabbled in business intelligence, then got dead serious
with SQL Server 2005, which has some pretty nifty data warehousing features.
All this resulted in a 35
percent BI growth for Microsoft last year, compared to the year before.
Redmond is now sixth in the market. Often, Microsoft gains shares through means
other than superior technology. I can't find anywhere to fault Microsoft on
this one.
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.