The old genteel WASP establishment in America is dead. Now the zio-jews have the gold and the Christian Zionists (not really Protestants) are their useful idiots.
Actually, the leprechauns have the gold and Trix are for kids.
You vastly underestimate Google. If you own the web search, all else follows.
We're not talking about web search we're talking about being a marketplace.
To put the difference in perspective, what's going to be the switching cost for a user when a better search engine comes along (assuming it's not Google that develops it)? Pretty close to zero, even if you're using any of their "sticky" services like GMail, personalized homepage, etc.
Contrast that with the switching cost of moving your eBay business, reputation, inventory, fulfillment, etc. to a new platform, for no other reason than... because it's Google's platform? Because your listings will show up in their search too? (as someone pointed out, they already do). It would take something just about as disruptive as the Internet itself for Google to get serious position as a marketplace. Clearly they are poised to continue to reap healthy marketing revenue from referrals to eBay auctions but that's strictly different than being a marketplace -- that's being a billboard -- especially when it's still cheaper to type "ebay" than "google" (let alone "froogle") if you're searching for something to buy.
In fact, it makes more sense for eBay to augment their organic marketplace with an external product search, so there's no reason to search anywhere else if you're looking for something to buy, than it does for Google to try and augment their search marketing business with an empty marketplace. That's why eBay bought shopping.com, but Google can't buy a ready-made marketplace.
Just about everyone, but back when Yahoo Auctions was new, it was... truly everyone.
And yet Yahoo Auctions never supplanted eBay despite having both search and auction features (and later, even a payment service). Point being that, historically, nifty synergies don't trump being first-to-market with a 60% product and 90% of the user base. Just ask the makers of Betamax, DR-DOS, etc.
Two weeks ago, Yahoo finally caved in and made listings free, but I wouldn't count on them taking any significant marketshare from eBay anytime soon. It's just too entrenched a marketplace. Hell, there are businesses that exist just to service businesses that exist just to service eBay sellers.
Google would have better luck opening its own stock exchange to trade Pokemon futures and equity interests in lemonade stands than going head to head against eBay. But if it lights a fire under eBay's ass to trim fat off their margins, I'm all for it.
At the end of an age marked by wealth-making products and services with style and no substance, is it that surprising that one of the most popular recreations has become seeing who can bullshit most deftly?
Perhaps the winning program could be reconfigured to create business plans?
google seems to actually do interesting things with their new projects. i am very curious how these new purchases are going to work out for yahoo or if they are just going to add to the rot.
About the only thing GMail has changed in recent memory is that I can now invite 50 people where before I could invite 6.
Froogle hasn't changed in a long time. It still can't accurately pull prices out of many pages and coverage is spotty.
Google desktop search hasn't changed appreciably since it was released. Same with Deskbar.
Google News hasn't changed in a long time.
Come to think of it, I am struggling to think of a Google offering that has shown significant incremental improvement since being released. I guess when something is in perma-beta mode, people don't expect a v2.0.
Nevertheless I know a lot of people who feel like you about the big G. If anything it lends credence to the belief that Google enjoys a cult status; they can do no wrong in their faithful's eyes, and there are many faithful.
That some kid stole a couple thousand dollars from Discover Card and some Visa merchant - so what? This guy acts like they were stealing the money from him.
They weren't stealing his money, they were stealing his time.
Having dealt with and watched friends deal with the fallout from identity theft, I can tell you it can be pretty time-consuming, especially when you don't know what else of yours the thieves might have stolen (or worse, circulated to their peers).
His half-day of detective work might have saved him a week of phone calls and hassle trying to get the matter fully resolved.
You assume that the historical mapping software would give the same route to all its users.
Why couldn't it do the equivalent of load balancing?
In other words, it could use historical information, real-time information, and round-robin route allocation to break ties.
Not to say the solution wouldn't be without its problems. It would certainly be harder computationally, and users would have to abide by the route they were given for the system to work. Might make for an interesting study though.
They were largely the same except the Internet wasn't around to keep everyone apprised of all the corporations' shady dealings, so it was easier for crap like this to get perpetrated.
Slashdot Mirror
To put the difference in perspective, what's going to be the switching cost for a user when a better search engine comes along (assuming it's not Google that develops it)? Pretty close to zero, even if you're using any of their "sticky" services like GMail, personalized homepage, etc.
Contrast that with the switching cost of moving your eBay business, reputation, inventory, fulfillment, etc. to a new platform, for no other reason than ... because it's Google's platform? Because your listings will show up in their search too? (as someone pointed out, they already do). It would take something just about as disruptive as the Internet itself for Google to get serious position as a marketplace. Clearly they are poised to continue to reap healthy marketing revenue from referrals to eBay auctions but that's strictly different than being a marketplace -- that's being a billboard -- especially when it's still cheaper to type "ebay" than "google" (let alone "froogle") if you're searching for something to buy.
In fact, it makes more sense for eBay to augment their organic marketplace with an external product search, so there's no reason to search anywhere else if you're looking for something to buy, than it does for Google to try and augment their search marketing business with an empty marketplace. That's why eBay bought shopping.com, but Google can't buy a ready-made marketplace.
And yet Yahoo Auctions never supplanted eBay despite having both search and auction features (and later, even a payment service). Point being that, historically, nifty synergies don't trump being first-to-market with a 60% product and 90% of the user base. Just ask the makers of Betamax, DR-DOS, etc.
Two weeks ago, Yahoo finally caved in and made listings free, but I wouldn't count on them taking any significant marketshare from eBay anytime soon. It's just too entrenched a marketplace. Hell, there are businesses that exist just to service businesses that exist just to service eBay sellers.
Google would have better luck opening its own stock exchange to trade Pokemon futures and equity interests in lemonade stands than going head to head against eBay. But if it lights a fire under eBay's ass to trim fat off their margins, I'm all for it.
By that logic, Yahoo! Auctions would have killed eBay years ago.
Consider the event "I have never gone back in time."
Actually the quake was not in the proximity of a subduction zone, hence why no tsunami resulted.
Perhaps the winning program could be reconfigured to create business plans?
But he broke the pact, and it cost him his soul.
linguistical?
Froogle hasn't changed in a long time. It still can't accurately pull prices out of many pages and coverage is spotty.
Google desktop search hasn't changed appreciably since it was released. Same with Deskbar.
Google News hasn't changed in a long time.
Come to think of it, I am struggling to think of a Google offering that has shown significant incremental improvement since being released. I guess when something is in perma-beta mode, people don't expect a v2.0.
Nevertheless I know a lot of people who feel like you about the big G. If anything it lends credence to the belief that Google enjoys a cult status; they can do no wrong in their faithful's eyes, and there are many faithful.
Anomie.
Having dealt with and watched friends deal with the fallout from identity theft, I can tell you it can be pretty time-consuming, especially when you don't know what else of yours the thieves might have stolen (or worse, circulated to their peers).
His half-day of detective work might have saved him a week of phone calls and hassle trying to get the matter fully resolved.
On a bet, I stole an English muffin from the kid's to-go bag. I can vouch.
Why couldn't it do the equivalent of load balancing?
In other words, it could use historical information, real-time information, and round-robin route allocation to break ties.
Not to say the solution wouldn't be without its problems. It would certainly be harder computationally, and users would have to abide by the route they were given for the system to work. Might make for an interesting study though.
It's hard to tell from your post - is it possible that you are actually a flower?
It's not if you count the cost of therapy incurred after listening to 1993's Zooropa
Your attempt was pre-empted by a higher priority post. I guess the RT patches work.
They were largely the same except the Internet wasn't around to keep everyone apprised of all the corporations' shady dealings, so it was easier for crap like this to get perpetrated.
free? as in radicals policed by beer?
No, in fact now the high prices are legitimized because they all need to pay restitution and legal bills.
Let's hope the porn is just 16:9 480p.