The man who would be king, er, shogun
By Margie Wylie and Rose Aguilar
Staff Writers, CNET NEWS.COM

Larry Ellison craves the best of everything.

More than anything, though, the founder of the $4 billion database company longs to be the most influential man in the personal computer market. Maybe that's why playing second fiddle to the undergroomed, underrefined and overexposed Bill Gates is such a thorn in his side.

From groupware to interactive television and personal digital assistants, Ellison has dabbled in The Next Big Thing for years now in an attempt to top Microsoft. Industry-types may whisper behind their hands about Larry's latest hare-brained scheme to beat Gates, but in the presence of the Oz -- so-called because of the Oracle campus's uncanny resemblance to The Emerald City -- they genuflect. Ellison deserves the respect if for no other reason than his restraint. He has never let his obsessions overwhelm his successful database business.

Ellison was still tanned from two weeks of racing his yacht in Hawaii (he won) and wearing an Armani original suit when he sat down with us to discuss Oracle's branded Network Computer at a San Francisco Junior League reception. Rubbing shoulders with Duponts, he preached a populist sermon about the $500 Internet device, a computer for, well, almost anyone but the crowd milling around us.

NEWS.COM: When do you see the NC taking off? Ellison: The NC comes out in September, and I think that in the first four to six months it will shake itself out, improve the software, get all the networks up and running and drive awareness. By the middle of next year, I think it's going to be explosive growth.

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