Sign of the Times

So I'm driving to the movies with my 6-year old the other day, and we pass a big sign that says "Tower Records Going Out of Business."

My daughter reads the sign, proudly, then says, "Dad, what does that mean?"

I explain bankruptcy as clearly as I can in the language a 6-year old would understand.

"No," she says, "what are records?"

Getting To Know Carly Fiorina


I just finished the new book by Carly Fiorina. It's fascinating on many levels. Not because it's well-written, because we all knew Fiorina was smart, or because she lives an interesting life. We knew that, too.

What struck me the most, start to finish, was how open Fiorina was about details, both business and personal.

When the firestorm of the Compaq merger was at its worst, and when we all knew the Hewlett-Packard board was trying to get rid of her, Fiorina was tight-lipped, and few of us in the press knew what she would do to protect her company, and her job.

If you read the book, you'll know. It's a detailed look not only into what was going on with the company, but what was going on with Carly Fiorina herself. Not that we needed to know everything about her life, but I remember many of her critics at the time said Fiorina wasn't talking enough .. talking about company guidance, talking about how she'd make the merger work, taking about why she was doing what she was doing. That silence, I felt, allowed Walter Hewlett to seem evern more like everyman that maybe he should have. Either way, there were dozens of questions surrounding Fiorina at the end. Years later, she answers them.

It's hard to feel sorry for Fiorina. Yes, she lost her job, but she made a ton of money. She describes her life since the big blow-up as happy, and that's nice to know. But if you were a fan of Fiorina, it's hard not to play the "what-if" game. What if she had remained at HP, earned the trust of the board and shareholders, and seen the stock price rise under her watch?

I remember her first day on the job. The first few questions were about being a woman at a major company, and she made it clear right away she didn't want to discuss that. I had done a tiny bit of research about her tenure at Lucent, and asked something about the internet. She said "thank you," answered the question, and directed the next few answers right at me. I though, this is a good start, and will lead to many future interview opportunities.

I was turned down every single time during the rest of her tenure.

After the Compaq merger was completed, Fiorina once spoke to a trade group that allowed us to bring a camera to film the talk. Fiorina came off as friendly, personable, and funny .. exactly the opposite of how she was being protrayed in the press. It was like Bob Dole and Al Gore - after their election losses. All of the suddden, we learned how charming these people could be, and all I could think of was, why didn't we see this earlier?

Well, ultimately, Fiorina says she's happy. That's all that counts, I guess. But, again, what if?
A good book always gets me thinking ..

India on TechNow


For those who have asked about another chance to see all the India stories .. thank you, and we'll be running them all back-to-back this weekend. Sunday, to be exact.

On the 8th of October, we'll dedicate an entire TechNow episode to Bangalore .. re-running all the stories, and throwing in a lot of the video we shot that we were not able to run during the newscasts.

That's sunday the 8th, at 3pm, on TechNow .. we hope you enjoy it.