商业报道:盖茨的搜索传奇（在线收听）

Gates' search legacy

As Bill Gates prepares to exit Microsoft, questions remain about its troubled Internet search division

We are all aware of the latest news of Microsoft and Yahoo. It’s clear that one of the reasons that Microsoft has been vying for Yahoo is to boost their questionable internet search division. So, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates retiring in June of this year, is part of his legacy tarnished without having a search division to match the likes of Google or Yahoo? For more on that is Andy Serwer, he knows all about this, Managing Editor, Fortune Magazine. Has Bill Gates failed if he walks away without a strong search division at Microsoft?

Wow, err, failed? No way, Poppy, I mean, look, he’s not going out with all things being roses, no question, (I) mean, first of all, you know, you talked about search, but really the entire internet strategy of Microsoft, is not exactly running on all cylinders. I mean they've really never been able to crack that nut, but you know when you talk about operating software and application software, there is one company, and that is Microsoft. Look around all the desktops in your offices, most of them, all of them, probably running on Microsoft’s products. So you know, when someone steps down, there’s always issues, there’s always problems. I mean this is a bit of crossroads for the company, but still, I mean, obviously this guy built this company into an incredible Juggernaut.

What do you think the Gates wants to see happen, because the Microsoft-Yahoo story just continues, it’s, new developments, almost everyday. But the man that we are hearing from is Steve Ballmer, we are really not hearing much from Gates, in fact, he is reportedly telling everyone that is, it's, it's up to Ballmer.

Yeah, it's buddy Steve's gig now, I mean no question about that Ballmer is the CEO, and I think again, this speaks to Gates’ transition out of Microsoft and running the company, I mean. He’s really done a great job, I mean He’s taken a long time to set this thing up, it’s not like the founder, CEO of the company getting hit by a bus, uh-oh, there’s no succession strategy here. I mean this has been telegraphed to investors, to Wall Street, to people in the business, for, if not months, years, Poppy. So we've seen this for a long time. As far as this specific deal, you know, it’s a deal now. All things are on the table, anything can happen. We talked about Carl Icahn being in the mix. You know, you’ve got all kinds of bankers, and I mean, if the deal doesn’t happen with Yahoo, Microsoft will continue. If the deal does happen with Yahoo, Microsoft will continue on. I mean, so it’s not so critical to the future of this company in that. It won’t survive without it.

Ok, well, you know these big fish, you know these big players pretty well. What does happen? Do we see Microsoft offer that 47.5 billion-dollar bid again for Yahoo, did they come in a little lower? What do we see, and I know we have to wait until July, 3rd, till the shareholder meeting, but what do we see between now and then?

Well, you know, it’s really impossible to tell, I hate to cop out with the answer like that. But I mean really who knows, and everything changes day by day, it’s such a fluid situation. You know, you have Yahoo, you have Microsoft, you have Icahn, you've got bankers, you've got lawyers, you've got government oversight, you've got Google in the mix, you've got AOL in the mix, you've got Time-Warner playing around. So to try to predict what's gonna happen, you know, over the next couple of weeks, anyone who says they know the answers is lying to you, they really don't know. Because it's like the weather, I mean I have no idea what the weather’s gonna be like in early July, I mean I know some's gonna be going on, but I don't know exactly what's gonna be happen, I know it will be hotter, but I don't know exactly what's gonna be going on.

Ok, so we will wait and see, but, if we can see this tie-up and Microsoft can strengthen their internet division, that is just another, eh, accomplishment for Gates, but still he leaves a strong legacy behind.

Absolutely.

Andy, thank you so much.

Thanks Poppy.

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比尔-盖茨准备退出微软，搜索部门问题依旧。

我们都知道最新的微软和雅虎的新闻。很明显，微软想要收购雅虎的其中一个原因是为了帮助自己问题重重的搜索部门。微软创始人盖茨今年六月份退休时，会不会因为没有可以与Google或Yahoo相匹敌的搜索部门而使财产缩水呢？关于这一点，财富杂志的管理编辑Andy Serwer了解更多的内容。如果退休时微软依然没有强大的搜索功能，比尔-盖茨是不是很失败呢？

失败？不可能。我是说，他不可能把所有的事情都做得非常完美，毫无疑问。我是说，首先，你说到搜索功能，但是实际上，微软的整个网络策略并不是关于所有方面的。我是说，他们不可能把所有一切难题都攻下来。但是你知道，你你说到操作软件和应用软件，只有一个公司，那就是微软。看一下你办公室里所有的桌面，大多数，甚至是所有的电脑，都是使用微软的产品。所以，你知道，一个人下台的时候，总会有问题遗留。我的意思是，微软公司正站在十字路口，但是，比尔-盖茨创立的微软公司仍然是非常强大的。

你认为盖茨希望看到什么样的前景，因为微软和雅虎之间的故事还在继续，几乎每天都有新的进展。但是我们一般听到的都是来自Steve Ballmer方面的消息，很少听到盖茨发表什么看法。实际上，据报道，他告诉每一个人，此事取决于Ballmer。

是的，应该取决于Steve。毫无疑问，他是微软的CEO，这进一步说明了盖茨即将退出雅虎。他的工作相当不错，我用了相当长的时间来运营公司，而不是只作为公司的创始人，CEO。该公司并没有继承策略。这些消息已经传达到投资者，华尔街或者其他该公司的人员，如果几个月或者几年的时间看不出效果，长期来看他一定是一个风云人物。在雅虎和微软之间的特殊交易中，当所有事情都拿上桌面来谈的时候，一切都有可能发生。你也见到过各种各样的银行家。我的意思是说，如果与雅虎之间的交易最终没有发生，微软还是会继续向前发展。如果和雅虎之间的交易达成，微软也会继续。我的意思是，这对该公司的未来不起决定作用。没有这笔交易微软仍然能够生存下去。