ASO acting like Microsoft?

vermooten

Nobody considers Pat McQuaid an incompetant fool more than me. I can't remember ever reading any comments which praise his management style or ability, which suggests that I'm not alone.

So playing devil's advocate.... (and it's a bit of a rambling post)....

ASO are acting rather like Microsoft. Like the software giant, ASO have some killer apps which mean that they decide how it's going to be and f*ck everyone else. In this sense, you could view UCI as being in a similar position to the open-source people. The UCI, after all, is responsible for world cycling at all levels. Its mission is not profit-driven, it exists solely to encourage cycling.

I've always considered MS to be the bad guys. They've trampled over open standards for years simply because they can. Wherever they see competition they kill it, then shoot it in the head just to make sure it's dead (purely legally of course - they do this very well). Software 'fans' unite in their hatred of Microsoft.

MS are still huge, and open-source software is everywhere. Linux rules the server market (I think) and the number of Firefox downloads has recently exeeded half a billion. So both are doing well.

Difference is that the highly visible open-source people don't slag off Microsoft - rather, they focus on the positives of their own products. This is a bit like McQuaid's urging the teams to check their contracts and make sure that they don't get screwed. But in general, McQuaid, with his aggressive fighting tone, is putting himself in the position of a Bill Gates or a Steve Ballmer, and that's why it's not working for him. He should let his inner Linus Torvalds shine through, he might get better results.

As I said, a bit of a ramble...

calvjones

MS get toasted for trying to extend their dominance in desktop software into other apps using nefarious means, and indulging in predatory pricing to kill competitors. Neither of which ASO do.

I also suspect ASO's return on its cycling investment is actually quite modest, and the capital remains employed there for irrational reasons. Can't be arsed to look up their accounts tho 8)

iainf72

vermooten wrote:

ASO are acting rather like Microsoft. Like the software giant, ASO have some killer apps which mean that they decide how it's going to be and f*ck everyone else. In this sense, you could view UCI as being in a similar position to the open-source people. The UCI, after all, is responsible for world cycling at all levels. Its mission is not profit-driven, it exists solely to encourage cycling.

Except that's not true. Why did the organisers hate the Pro Tour? Because Pat was trying to steal their TV revenue. Maybe the UCI are more like someone like Citrix (buying XenSource, and rebranding everything Xen to make it appear they're open source friendly, but try to cozy up to MS at the same time)

Oh, don't believe the Firefox numbers. It's get a lot of downloads sure, but the percentage of people who switch is tiny.

dave_1

I think ASo should invite some amatuer teams...I'd far rather watch them than doping outfits...some may even do very well...Cafe de Columbia?

Kléber

If you want to see pro-McQuaid stuff, just visit cyclingnews.com, where the letters pages attack ASO relentlessly, the same "save Tyler/Floyd" enthusiasm from the US. There's also an interview with McQuaid just prints his views without a tough question put his way. You'd think journalists would have 100s of questions...

vermooten

Yeah the yanks have been very pro-UCI in recent weeks....

LangerDan

vermooten wrote:

Yeah the yanks have been very pro-UCI in recent weeks....

More on the basis of "my enemy's enemy....". If Astana (ie Levi) hadn't been barred, I doubt most of the writers could have been arsed to hold an opinion either way on the UCI.