Alan Frayer, CNE, CNI, CIW CI, Net+, MCP

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I'm at a disadvantage. Some might say I'm henpecked, but I look at my situation in a practical manner. There are two females in my household, and discounting Whitey, I'm the only male. When you are on the receiving end of a two-on-one situation, you tend to give in.

If that was the extent of the situation, I'd get by. We each have one vote in the crucial matters, like what to watch on TV, right? So I lose when it comes to romance movies vs Monday Night Football. There are more important things in life.

The disadvantage is they KNOW they've got me over a barrel. They negotiate with each other for the swing vote, then negotiate with me, offering one of those deals that made "The Godfather" famous. This exercise of clout is representative of the way things work in the real world.

I just watched CNN tell the world Microsoft was going to develop software for Apple's Power PC. I'd expect this story in INFOWORLD or PC WEEK, or even PC LIFE, but not CNN. For one thing, it isn't surprising, and so its hardly news. More importantly, who cares? Most of CNN's viewers couldn't even tell you the Power PC will be different from other PCs. They didn't know Microsoft wasn't going to do it before the announcement.

This is real world Clout in action (Clout with a capital C means REAL clout). Microsoft can get just about anything they want to say plastered all over the press because the press depends on their good will to get the real news. Real news for the press would be a true ship date for Windows NT, but to get that the press has to print more obscure items like another company supporting Microsoft C++.

We all know who has Clout. They are the companies and people mentioned in stories that inspire us to ask the burning question, "Why did we need to learn that?" Bill Gates wields his own Clout, independent of his company. So does Phillippe Kahn. IBM practically set the definition for Clout, and Intel has been taking lessons carefully.

I'd say it was time for the press to get a little backbone and resist the Clout, but I'm in the same boat. You can't report what you don't learn, and those with Clout control the information channels. You can ignore everything I've just said.

I'm ready for a home cooked dinner, but the women of the house are saying "pizza" in low, threatening tones. I think I know when I'm beaten.

Copyright (c) 1992 by Alan Frayer
All Rights Reserved

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