Google.

Google is now being traded at 400 dollars a share. Four hundred fucking dollars per share. From the articles I’ve been reading, people don’t know what to say or what to think. The company has no debt and 8 billion bucks sitting around for people to swim in, like a giant money bin from the duck tales.

And then I read articles like this one.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20051117.html .

And I don’t know what to think either. Techies, discuss. Enlighten us as to what this means and how real this is.

This guy is a fucking moron. His opening line alone is dumb. To say that the creation of an OS wouldn’t play to their traditional strengths is ridiculous, and ignores the fact that google does not make money off of most of their software, nor do they even try to.

Also, to say that they’re buying fiber to sell back to the consumer is also pretty fucking stupid. At the moment, SBC/Bell, whoever you want to call them, owns well over 75% of the fiber in the country. Do they charge for access? No. Not because they don’t want to, hell, <a href=“http://www.businessweek.com/@@n34h*IUQu7KtOwgA/magazine/content/05_45/b3958092.htm”>their own CEO was calling for it</a>, but because <i>they can’t</i>. It isn’t in the best interests of the rest of the internet. Not only that, but the net is still regulated by the governments of the world, and it isn’t in their best interest to allow one company to exert control over their entire system. Also, why would google want to buy fiber in the first place when they have peering agreements with most of the top-tier backbones? Just because they own a bunch of data centers doesn’t mean they’re going to become their own internet, either.

Personally, i don’t get why the company is so hot. Aside from their search functions, and gmail, everything they create seems to be stuck in beta-hell.

I don’t know whether to ecstatic or afraid of that pronouncement.

Seconded

I’d suggest that it was in a “it’s hot because it’s hot” if not for the fact that it’s actually made money, unlike most other internet fads like that.

That tells us nothing. What price was it at a month ago?

it IPOed around $35 I believe.

Their groups thing also means death to many daily newspapers, so I’ve read (the ads sections anyway). I think google’s web domination is frighteningly realistic. Most of their strategies let people work for them instead of the other way around (as in, active participation of users), which means an uncountable supply of creative volunteers and wave of information. And they hardly have to lift a finger for it.

It’s no surprise at all. Information is worth far more than production these days, and Google has bar none compiled the largest database of instantly retrievable information in the entire world. And it’s growing to encompass traditional media like books. Personally, I doubt if I’d want to buy any stock at 400 dollars per share (though remember this stock has yet to pay out and has no immediate plans to pay out any dividends), but I’m sure a stock split or two are inevitable in the near future.