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Nothing would surprise me about AOL. Well, OK, Dow membership would surprise me a bit. But I think it is possible, just not in the near term, as the Dow is much more conservative in their selections. If you look 4-5 years out, however, I believe there will be a well-defined segmentation of the internet industry between a core group of companies in the portal, e-commerce, and ISP businesses. AOL and ATHM should be well positioned somewhere in that group. I'm not even sure what business AOL and ATHM are really in at this point, or will be. Are they ISPs? Are they e-commerce malls? I wonder if they will be in the entertainment business, and their true competitors will not be other internet firms, but media firms such as NBC, CBS, and Disney. Especially when broadband access becomes more ubiquitous. |
