David Adewumi

TC is reporting that Microsoft is making another attempt to acquire Xobni, “inbox spelled backwards,” after the last sub-$20 million offer that was too low.

Now if you’ve read a bit of my blog before, you’ll know I suggested that Xobni could be the next Google (although in reality this title probably belongs to Zoho), but of course there are a bunch of commenters and bloggers getting on their high horses chiding Microsoft for its inability to innovate.

Great news for Xobni, whether the acquisition goes through or not, and with recent press in the NYT as well as a mention by William Gates himself, they’re at least on their way to its other important acquisition: users.

Matt Brezina, co-founder of the inbox 2.0 startup, a fellow SC/PSU-bred entrepreneur, is a great guy and I wish the company the best of luck.

However there’s a message in this not particularly related to Xobni that goes like this …

Earth to the U.S.: stop sipping on that haterade.

(For those of you not familiar with the term, it’s a play on the words “hate” and “gatorade,” and according to Urban dictionary, its a fictional beverage, parodying the popular sports drink ‘gatorade’, purportedly consumed by individuals who are jealous of others, supposedly fueling their ability to be jealous of, or ‘hate on’, others.)

While I’m not necessarily claiming that the Microsoft-bashers are jealous of the company, their apparent spite for the Redmond-based company, is most often appalling.

Well-respected VC, blogger, and family-man Fred Wilson says:

But first Lookout and now Xobni. It’s sort of proof that Microsoft doesn’t know how to improve it’s own software. So they buy those that do.

And if Google bought Xoopit, a plugin for Gmail, would that be proof that everybody’s favorite monopoly can’t improve its own software? Most likely, in fact, bloggers and users alike would be hailing Google’s ability to consistently acquire young, hot, startups.

And if Facebook releases a platform for others to improve its own web application, would that be seen as a bad move as well?

Some commenters are downright vicious against Microsoft on the news.yc site (although this shouldn’t be surprise, as Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, for whom I hold much respect, consistently attacks Microsoft, essay after essay) including Wright, who says:

I know a lot of really smart people who can’t program worth a darn.

If you want to work at MS you’re already lacking in the taste department. And what’s the interview process, brainteasers or BSing your way through random estimates like the number of gas stations in the country?

Being good at bluster can make someone seem pretty smart. But the computer doesn’t care about that. It filters out what you can really do from what you can fool people into thinking you can do.

Those are some pretty strong words, as the commenter is essentially painting a broad brush against current and future Microsoft employees, challenging both their taste and their ability to program.

So I must ask the question: Why do Americans love haterade so much?

It’s not just restricted to all these Microsoft bashing/ Apple-loving junkies. I’ve never been a Mac fan, although I recently got an iPhone, and I’ll be the first to say its an amazing device — the forerunner of the UMPC for the AVERAGE person. I’ve used a Microsoft OS since my childhood years, including XP on a refurbished Dell desktop that I got 8 years ago and is still running strong.

Now I won’t mask my disappointment — I got Vista on my broke-college student- budget on a $350 Wal-mart special laptop — and frankly, my life has certainly not been enjoyable while staring at this 15-inch screen that constantly reads “not responding.”

Nevertheless, why should I hate Microsoft?

There seems to be some fascination in the U.S. with hating whoever the topdog is, whether it be the New England Patriots, New York Yankees, or the USC Trojans — semi-dynasties in their respective sports of professional football and baseball, and college football.

When the Patriots burst onto the scene, they took down “the greatest show on turf” a.k.a. the St. Louis Rams under the scruffy, Arena Football league graduate Kurt Warner, and everybody LOVED them, was rooting for them.

This time around, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Patriots supporter not from the Boston area. People had just gotten tired of seeing a team be too good for too long.

If a sports team manages to be great for a number of years, more power to them.

If a company chooses to become a behemoth on the backs of millions of willing users (which describes Apple just as much as it describes Microsoft), you won’t see me shed a tear for you.

As a first sergeant in basic training used to say while grinding us with excercises (and with out the smallest bit of empathy), “my heart pumps kool-aid for y’all.”

At least it wasn’t haterade.