Fifth-party dancing with the devil

Khare (kharem1@worldnet.att.net)
Sat, 20 Dec 1997 22:52:32 +0530


[An advertisement in the Red Herring]

ARE YOU READY TO START A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT?

BMG CAN SPEED YOU THROUGH THE MAZE.

"The pathway to partnering with Microsoft can be complex. Is your company a
competitive threat, or a complementary ally? Do you know when and where to
make comtact? Or will you endlessly wander the maze?

"There is one way to ensure that your comapny makes the right moves. Simple
contact Business Marketing Group (BMG). Because we are the first
consultancy dedicated to creating strategic partnerships for our clients
with Microsoft. With BMG as your guide, you'll cut a path straight through
the corporate maze. Efficiently, effectively, and fast enought o reduce
your time to engagement by as much as nine months. ... www.bmginc.com

Wow! I mean, I thought I was slimy enough as a self-styled generic
"Interenet Standards Lobbyist", but this is spectacular! An entire firm
devoted to lobbying another! I mean, this occurs all the time in smallshops
trading on contacts, but this is ballsy -- afull page ad in the Herring.

So, we can add a new species to the list:

1st Party -- I make what I need
2nd Party -- I hire you to make what I need
3rd Party -- I buy something you made (for many people)
4th Party -- I buy something you make which modifies 3rd party stuff
5th Party -- I buy something you do which influences my realtionshipw with
3rd and 4th parties.

Fourth-Party Markets were intriguing enough -- "objectware" in the NeXTstep
market; componentware and VBXes, later, in Windows. Fifth-Party Markets are
parasites upon parasites, in some sense.

And why not? But I do have to believe this is the limit of the cycle.

At least until I see the say a journalists' lobby group emerges to
"navigate your way through Waggener-Edstrom" [Microsoft's mammoth PR
firm]...

Rohit