The news of Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid for Yahoo has left me surprised, but personally and directly, I’m largely unaffected.

I tend to agree with Google’s contention that this is a bad thing for innovation, competition and transparency on the web … but then, I tend to agree with Google on a lot of things, and I’m a big fan of most Google tools.

I say I’m "unaffected," because I don’t use del.icio.us, Flickr, Yahoo! mail, or any other of their services … but I certainly know plenty of people who do.

I’m not virulently anti-Microsoft by any means. I do think their approach to business is more aggressive and less friendly … but after all, running a business isn’t really about making friends, it’s about making money. Right?

(Hint to Microsoft: some companies think you can do both.)