Gawker: valleywag, lotus

Tesla Spokesman Takes Swipe At Dodge EV

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:15:00 EDT

A spokesman for Tesla today confirms that they knew "something" about Chrysler's surprise reveal of a Lotus-based electric vehicle and essentially calls it vaporware. Darryl Siry, Tesla's VP of Global Sales, Marketing And Service responded to a question today about the Dodge EV, revealed last month, by saying "I think what it is its something for showcasing. More of a public relations thing to support their application for their share of a 25 billion loan guarantee." Siry is of course referring to the possibly delayed automaker loan package. Why this is so hilariously ironic below the jump.

We can't help but point out that this statement came the same day that Tesla announced it was going to scale back Tesla Model S production plans until a government loan guarantee becomes effective. Though we fully believe that the Model S from Tesla is undergoing development and have our doubts about the electric Chryslers, this does seem a bit like the electric pot calling the electric kettle black.

Bill Gates looks back at the competition Microsoft annihilated

Jackson West — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Putting media naysayers in their place, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates continued his farewell tour by pointing to old press accounts of companies like Ashton Tate and Lotus as worthy competitors into the perspective only the ultimate winner can enjoy. When asked by CNET's Ina Fried about the early presumptions that IBM would eat Microsoft's lunch and how that turned out, Gates used the opportunity to challenge those who would similarly presume that Google will eventually destroy Team Redmond.

Google is a very strong competitor, and so people will enjoy watching whether they can be challenged. The world will be better off if they are challenged effectively, and I think there's only one company left in terms of the depth and breadth and staying power that you need (to) really give them a big challenge.

Google-baiting aside, did Gates bringing up WordPerfect make anyone else feel really, really old?(Photo by AP/Stephen Brashear)

The man who didn't let AOL kill Firefox

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:00:57 EST

Tomorrow, Netscape is officially dead: AOL is ending support for the venerable browser. But its offspring, Firefox, is thriving. Both Netscape and Firefox had several brushes with death. In 1998, "Microsoft was driving their monster truck after us and they were about to pin us to the wall," former Netscape software engineer Brendan Eich recently told the San Francisco Chronicle. Before that could happen, however, Netscape execs James Barksdale, Eric Hahn, Mike Homer and cofounder Marc Andreessen decided to open the browser's source code to the community. Behold, Mozilla. But the organization wasn't independent of Netscape owner AOL yet. And here's a shocker, AOL executives nearly killed Mozilla through neglect. So who saved the baby?

Eich credits Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus. The story goes that around the turn of the century, AOL agreed to spin off the Mozilla Foundation, but only wanted to fund it with a "get lost package," according to the Chronicle.

Eich says that Kapor, himself a victim of the Microsoft hegemony, leaned on a friend, AOL exec Ted Leonsis, to get the Mozilla Foundation a better sendoff. Eventually AOL agreed to set up the foundation with $2 million. It was enough to keep Mozilla alive and thriving.

Now, Mozilla's browser Firefox owns around 16 percent market share and Mozilla is more profitable than its new CEO would like you to think about.

IBM purchased Canadian software maker Cognos...

Jordan Golson — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:58:07 EST

IBM purchased Canadian software maker Cognos for $5 billion in cash. Big Blue generally looks at acquisitions under $1 billion, making this one its largest acquisition ever. The largest prior acquisition was of Lotus for $3.5 billion many years (and a bubble or two) ago. [FT]