Comments on: Geeks do it smarter http://www.nonfamous.com/wp/2004/04/30/geeks-do-it-smarter/ commentary on the world around us, with an effort to keep paranoia at the lowest healthy level Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:23:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: paulette http://www.nonfamous.com/wp/2004/04/30/geeks-do-it-smarter/#comment-619 paulette Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.nonfamous.com/wp/2004/04/30/geeks-do-it-smarter/#comment-619 Another interesting difference between Google's IPO and the dot com ones of the last decade is that, whereas so many of those companies seemed to exist with the primary goal of achieving an IPO, Google's boys didn't really even want one. They were perfectly happy to continue doing business behind some very well-guarded doors, but pressure from investors who want to cash in played a significant role in their decision to go this route. Unfortunately I'd not be surprised if we see Google's downfall in the not-too-distant future, even if they are doing what they can to avoid those '90s excesses. They're making short term profits, but how sustainable is that? They have no patents that guarantee product uniqueness, and there are some very fierce (and wealthy) competitors out there (no, I'm not naming names) who are hell-bent on winning the search engine war, and not just by trying to outdo Google and its very successful search algorithm, but by taking the whole idea of what a successful search looks like in an entirely new direction. There's no real evidence that Larry and Sergey have the power to withstand that kind of opponent when the rules of the game change. Another interesting difference between Google’s IPO and the dot com ones of the last decade is that, whereas so many of those companies seemed to exist with the primary goal of achieving an IPO, Google’s boys didn’t really even want one. They were perfectly happy to continue doing business behind some very well-guarded doors, but pressure from investors who want to cash in played a significant role in their decision to go this route.

Unfortunately I’d not be surprised if we see Google’s downfall in the not-too-distant future, even if they are doing what they can to avoid those ’90s excesses. They’re making short term profits, but how sustainable is that? They have no patents that guarantee product uniqueness, and there are some very fierce (and wealthy) competitors out there (no, I’m not naming names) who are hell-bent on winning the search engine war, and not just by trying to outdo Google and its very successful search algorithm, but by taking the whole idea of what a successful search looks like in an entirely new direction. There’s no real evidence that Larry and Sergey have the power to withstand that kind of opponent when the rules of the game change.

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