Seriously, though, I think Microsoft is also buying managers and developers who made better moves in many of the areas where it has fallen behind. YUI vs. "Atlas" (is it still called Atlas) for example. They get some good properties, but I think they are also looking for skills they apparently haven't had.
The question is, will they crush/warp/bend them or crush/warp/bend themselves?
I recall hearing that from may people when Yahoo first bought Flickr.
Having to use a Yahoo ID to use Flickr was enough to get me to stop using it. Too damn annoying.
I've been giving Picassa a whirl.
There's a part of me that just dislikes the "winner takes all", eventual walled-garden effect.
But this discussion is about taking care of employees's and customer's wish and aspiration - again what if key employees and customers of flickr, delicious etc.switch their loyalty just because they were not respected and considered during m&a....
sorry, but i haven't read any survey regarding whether or not yahoo's (and its subsidiary's) employees and customers are for or against the merger.
I think that the fall of Microsoft is eventual anyway, no company has historically maintained a strong dominance or monopoly in their industry over a long period of time. As things continue to change in the computing market, Microsofts sheer size works more against it than for it. We've all probably heard the story about how Microsoft almost missed the Internet in '95 or so. That one was easier to recover from than sinking billions of R&D dollars into a desktop app development when things suddenly go to apps in the cloud, or some similar thing.
At this point, I don't know that Microsoft can really benefit from any significant merger. They may however be able to fend off the inevitable for another few years with some strategic acquisitions though.