FORTUNE Features » Go West

Google the good in Q4

2009-01-22T23:32:19Z

By now the headlines already will have covered the basics. Google's (GOOG) fourth-quarter revenues were up 18% to $5.7 billion, a solid showing. Profits fell, but only because Google wrote down loser investments in AOL, a unit of Fortune parent Time Warner (TWX), and Clearwire, the Wimax company that's also an embarrassment to Motorola and Intel (INTC). On a day that Microsoft's (MSFT) stock tanked by 12%, once again Google MORE

The Cook Doctrine at Apple

2009-01-22T15:15:09Z

There was a magical moment that had nothing to do with financial results Wednesday afternoon in Apple's (AAPL) conference call with investors. What made the magic remarkable is that it came from Tim Cook, the supposedly uncharismatic, unemotional, uninspiring chief operating officer of the company, the guy whom Steve Jobs tapped to run day-to-day operations during his medical leave of absence, even though Cook already runs the company's operations.

Asked the MORE

Why Yahoo's Bartz should quit her boards

2009-01-14T20:32:20Z

Pattie Sellers and I are having a debate about board memberships. She intelligently argues that boards are good, especially for women, who have a disadvantage at the highest reaches of corporate America.

Still, you'll know Carol Bartz, the incoming CEO of Yahoo (YHOO), is super serious about her massive task at hand if she immediately drops off the boards of Cisco (CSCO), where's she's the lead independent director; Intel (INTC) a MORE

Would Seagate go private again?

2009-01-14T16:14:27Z

Just before the new year a Silicon Valley financial type pointed out to me that August Capital, an old-line but quiet venture firm, had invested twice in disc-drive leader Seagate (STX), once as a venture investment and again alongside Silver Lake and TPG in a going-private transaction in 2000. "Who knows," this investor quipped, noting Seagate's plummeting stock price, then and now below $5 per share, "maybe August will get MORE

Newspapers, Idol viewers, Palm and more

2009-01-12T15:45:12Z

To start the week off, here are a few things that jumped out at me over the weekend.

* In a New York Times review of a new biography of William Randolph Hearst was this startling fact: In the 1890s, when Hearst relocated to New York from San Francisco, his new city was home to 48 daily papers. Reviewer and veteran newsman Jack Rosenthal calls this period "print's riotous spring, a MORE

Can Google save newspapers?

2009-01-09T21:41:33Z

There's been so much online discussion about the interview I did with Google's (GOOG) Eric Schmidt on this subject that I thought I'd post a few more thoughts. (John Battelle snarkily notes that all the discussion has been online ... that's, of course, just the discussion you're seeing, John, which isn't the same thing as all the discussion; most people haven't even seen a print copy of that issue of MORE

Five thoughts on Obama's speech

2009-01-09T15:51:29Z

President-elect Obama's first speech since the election won't likely be remembered much by history, especially compared with his upcoming inaugural address. Nevertheless, it was an important moment because it marked the beginning of his new campaign, to sell a massive stimulus plan he hopes will make 2009 the low point for the American economy rather than merely the second year of a more prolonged slump. Here are a few things MORE

Behind Dell's snippy attitude

2008-12-24T14:33:18Z

A couple years ago, right around the time Dell's exploding laptop batteries were getting a fair amount of media attention, I had breakfast in San Francisco with a senior Dell executive. He was seriously annoyed by all the focus on Dell (DELL), even though his company wasn't the only one with the spontaneous combustion problem caused by Sony's (SNE) batteries.

I used, with little success, an explanation I like to give MORE

Facebook's best face

2008-12-16T23:38:17Z

Facebook held a holiday party Monday night for journalists at its headquarters in rainy, cold Palo Alto. The conversations there were strictly off the record, so I can't quote what people told me over egg nog and finger food.

I'll share a few thoughts anyway because Facebook's an interesting company that's in the news a lot. First, it has acquired interesting DNA. Much has been made of how young and inexperienced CEO MORE

Fortune 500 Forum wrap-up

2008-12-10T14:35:42Z

I'm always too slow to get around to reporting about our great Fortune conferences. Once again, in the better-late-than-never category, here are a few thoughts from the Fortune 500 Forum, held last Monday to Wednesday (Dec. 1-3) in Washington, D.C., at the Ritz-Carlton hotel near DuPont Circle.

This conference draws together a group of CEOs and other big shots to go high level: the economy, corporate governance, state of the world, MORE