The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft gives up cable acquisitions

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft gives up cable acquisitions "Scratch cable companies off the list of acquisitions Microsoft may make with its $49 billion in cash.
After losing billions in cable investments, the software company is no longer trying to buy its way into the business. Instead it will focus on building software that cable companies want to buy, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said yesterday at a cable-industry conference in Seattle.
"While I would never say never, I also don't think you should have any expectation that we think we'll be doing a lot of new investments in cable companies," he said after his keynote speech at the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing event.
Microsoft makes software for cable set-top boxes. It's also trying to extend its home and entertainment business with products such as the Xbox game console and the Media Center PC, a computer that records and plays music and video.
Microsoft invested at least $10 billion in cable companies in the late 1990s, then reported billions in losses during the industry's shakeout over the past two years."