From the 1 September 2008 issue of Computer World (www.ComputerWorld.com) Don Tennant does a interview of Ms. Mulcahy that’s worth checking. To read the complete interview click here.

Btw, Mr Tennant is Computer World’s editor and writes a great blog with a pretty broad perspective . It’s not just techie computer stuff. Don’s insights can be found at: blogs.computerworld.com/tennant.

Later in this interview you’ll find:

AM : There were plenty of less-than-perfect decisions. For us, the worst decision was no decision. It’s the things you don’t deal with. It’s much easier to fix mistakes than to fix inaction.

Break out the champagne. We’ll drink to that!

“Best Buy To Buy Napster” by Joseph Palenchar, TWICE (www.TWICE.com) on Monday 15 Sept 2008.

With all do respect to (the long gone) Shawn Fanning, as well as to the powerhouse Best Buy… Has the Napster brand ever made money? What could Napster possibly have that Best Buy can’t buy elsewhere without all the baggage? One would think $120,000,000 could buy BB quite a bit of – human and technological – resources.

Let’s face it, risk is a function of confidence. Best Buy probably should have considered, Goliath, Wall Street, Kid Rock, etc. before they put $120 million where their cockiness is. It’s true that only 20% of the music market is digital (video even less) so there’s still loads of long term promise in that space. That said, regardless of how deep your pockets are it doesn’t make much sense to put any amount on the horse that has yet to stand in the winner’s circle.

It’s all over the news, another one of Wall Street’s (alleged) finest is down on their luck. And apparently luck is the key word here for Lehman Brothers and the like. For one of the many NY Times stories please click here. Can someone please explain to us how in the best of times these outfits are allowed to declare themselves geniuses and then anoint themselves with over the top bonuses, as if they had in fact mastered the universe. Yet, when the current they’d been swimming in – at what we were told were actual world record breaking in speeds – changes they all suddenly are calling for a lifeguard.

Granted, one has to feel some empathy for almost anyone who loses their job. We’ve all been there at one time or another. But it’s difficult to shed too many tears for people who (hopefully) pay more in taxes than most normal people make in a couple of years. Live by the sword, die by the sword, eh? What’s really sad is the millions of little guys who are really suffering Wall Street’s consequences.

It’s hard to believe that there isn’t anything criminal about this mess. Talk about a lesson in what leadership is not.