SHORT MEMORIES
In case you missed them, three separate headlines in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal yesterday are worth noting in the following order.
- First, the Wall Street Journal with the story: "INTERNET AD-REVENUE CONTINUES TO SURGE".
- Next, the WSJ's story: "MEDIA FIRMS DIG INTO WAR CHESTS FOR LATEST ASSAULT ON INTERNET".
- And finally, from the NY Times (via detnews.com): "WHY TIME WARNER HAS FALLEN IN LOVE WITH AOL AGAIN".
This last one has the most irony, having been broadly derided as a failure by most pundits only a few years ago.
It's amazing how a little passing of time makes all the difference, and how history repeats itself. These were the types of things that were anticipated by some half a decade ago, with caveats like "this will happen over the next few years as the Internet goes mainstream with broadband".
But as is always true, investors and the media generally have a short-term focus. One day's darlings become the next day's fools.
Well, it's finally going mainstream, and yesterday's castaways are today's gold.
And today's incumbents may be playing tomorrow's fools.
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