Taking a close look at all technical options is the right thing for them (AOL and MSN) to be doing.

If the ad is bad people get turned off. That's 125 million potential viewers, so you just killed reach. But there's also a big potential payoff. I think it does pay off because you get a lot of traffic, a lot of free public relations(in media stories). It helps position themselves for the next round of financing.

From the consumer point of view, there may be questions about whether you'll have to be an AOL subscriber to get Time magazine, ... That combination of media with the access is one through which you may be able to block access to your competitors' subscribers.

It's the same reason why someone has a Web page or why people feel comfortable going on reality TV.

Twitter is not a technology. It's a conversation and it's happening with or without you.

In theory, it makes a lot of sense to combine the two operations, especially on the back end. But merging the two actual portal consumer experiences into a unified site will be a nightmare.

Taking a close look at all technical options is the right thing for them (AOL and MSN) to be doing.