No - I don’t have any stock in Microsoft or Yahoo! I’m also not stupid enough to buy stock in either one while their prices are inflated. The time to have done (in the early 90s if you had spare cash, foresight, or just got plain lucky) so has long since passed. So my interests don’t lie there. Recently it’s been reported in the news that Microsoft has been trying to acquire Yahoo and has put out their offer.
But why am I interested at the moment in whether or not Yahoo should sell to Microsoft? Let me lay out a few reasons for you:
- Yahoo is a piece of crap. So much of what they present on their homepage is available elsewhere on the Internet such as MSN’s main webpage.
- Yahoo missed the boat. Yes, they had a wonderful free email service back in the day, but got usurped by Gmail which offered basically unlimited email space for free. Yahoo (as well as many other services such as Hotmail) eventually folded and agreed to provide unlimited email space by serving up advertisements to finance this endeavor. Greatly welcomed, but a little bit too late in the game.
- Yahoo is going nowhere. Currently, I don’t see how this service can stay afloat without some major changes. The only thing it really offers beyond a semi-functional search engine is a business directory, an average home page portal, and an average email system. I can’t really think of anything else they have to offer which I can’t get elsewhere with better results. I don’t see any innovation in their immediate future. The only two reasons why I see people stick to Yahoo are:
a) They’ve done so for so many years and hate to give up their frequently used email addresses.
b) They’re too stupid to switch over to better services. - Yahoo should think of their investors. Since they are headed nowhere, it’s in their investors best interest to sell and dump their garbage service.
And last but not least - why am I pissed at Yahoo right now? Hmm. Well let’s see. I’m a long time customer - I can recall having a Yahoo password which was 4 letters long. I also have websites and clients in their business directory. However, it all started when I made this particular website go live.
I tried logging in to add this website to their search engine and it kept kicking me out due to some password issue or some other type of problem that they wouldn’t elaborate upon. Finally, I was taken to their security section for which I had to email them then wait a day for a response. Then I responded and had to wait another day.
Now they’ve sent me a letter pasted below:
Hello,
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Account Services.
In order to assist you with the account in question, we ask that you provide the answers to all of the questions below. Yahoo! keeps detailed records of the information you provided during the registration of your account.
For security reasons, we require an exact match otherwise we will be unable to assist you with your account. For this, there are no exceptions. Please fax or send via regular postal mail the information listed below. (We apologize for the detailed request, but in order to provide proper security for our member accounts, these steps are necessary)
Please send us all of the following:
* Your name
* An email address where we can contact you — at this time we are only able to reply via email.
* Copy of a state/government issued photo ID (please copy on the lightest setting of your copier).
* Yahoo! ID
* Permission for Yahoo! to enter your account
* Birthdate on the account
* The answer to your Security Question. (if applicable) The correct Secret Answer is required; even with faxed information.
* ZIP code and country
* Your alternate email addressPlease fax the information to:
(503) 615 3883Attn: CC Account Security Team
If you are outside the United States/Canada, you may fax the information to the number below:
+1 (503) 615 3883Or mail it to:
Yahoo!
Attn: Customer Care/Account Security
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1019Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Account Services.
Regards,
Pedro
What on earth are they trying to DO?!?!?!? I can’t think of a more unfriendly, convoluted process to retrieve my account information. Even my credit cards don’t give me that much of a hassle if I call them up. And they have the audacity to ask me to send them my drivers license info? What the fu** are they trying to do - go on a weekend drinking binge with my identity?!?! For Christ’s sake, just resend me my password information. It’s not rocket science.
Perhaps I should add to their list:
*Please send us your firstborn child.
*Your bank account routing number.
*Title and deed to your property.
*Your girlfriend’s panties.
Sell, sell, and sell. One less search engine I would have to contend with. I’m also tired of reading about this company on the news. Plus, you have the wonderful option of taking down Microsoft with you. There’s little to no hope for you. Good riddance.
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