{"id":2223,"date":"2015-08-12T08:55:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T16:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iwasmisinformed.com\/?p=2223"},"modified":"2015-08-12T08:55:50","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T16:55:50","slug":"prima-nocte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iwasmisinformed.com\/?p=2223","title":{"rendered":"Prima Nocte"},"content":{"rendered":"

So Google is now Alphabet. \u00a0Don\u2019t let the org chart games fool you; the bits of Google that are practical and presumably making money or heavily involved in same (search, advertising, YouTube, Android) are being staffed out to themselves but the founders are running Alphabet, which appears to be composed of moonshots and 100x and buzzwords and things that would make the writers of Silicon Valley<\/em> on HBO blush to pin that level of preposterous on another person.<\/p>\n

But they also used the words \u201cBerkshire Hathaway.\u201d And that\u2019s a name to conjure with, because Warren Buffett\u2019s holding company has become synonymous with long-term investment with big returns. After all, dude is as rich as Bill Gates, supposedly. If Alphabet is expecting to be attractive to investors, the promise of crazy cash in return for your upfront money is certainly what you want to sell. \u00a0But I\u2019m looking at this and seeing something else altogether.<\/p>\n

Look at television, for instance. \u00a0Right now, ESPN is the only thing going that really makes you have to invest in a cable bill. \u00a0Because otherwise, you could pay for subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO and Amazon Prime, and you\u2019d have pretty much most of the things you\u2019d have gotten from your cable subscription ten years ago aside from ESPN. \u00a0Things like House of Cards<\/em> and Orange Is The New Black<\/em>\u00a0made Netflix the new HBO, and now the old HBO is not unlike Netflix with the advent of HBO Now. \u00a0Plus YouTube is the new hotness for the kids, and if you don\u2019t believe me look at how Hannah Hart has gone in four years from making drunk cooking videos for her friend back East to hosting a Doctor Who marathon on BBC America and starring in a movie you can buy on iTunes and a revived TV series that will be\u2026on the web.<\/p>\n

Now.<\/p>\n

Google owns YouTube. \u00a0What\u2019s to prevent Alphabet from taking a stake, say 30% or so, in a publicly traded Netflix or Hulu? Or for that matter Amazon? Or buying big into Time-Warner, which impacts HBO, or into Disney which affects not only ESPN but the entire Star Wars and Marvel franchises? Or for that matter, into Apple? Or Microsoft? Or any other publicly held company whose interests might intersect or compete with Google?<\/p>\n

Alphabet is the instrument by which Larry and Sergey can get a piece of everything and anything. You don\u2019t have to sell out to Google anymore. \u00a0Alphabet can just buy a chunk of whoever you do sell out to. \u00a0And given the shoddy nature of securities regulation in this country and the limits of what can be done abroad, it\u2019s not difficult to see them getting away with it.<\/p>\n

Google might have been getting too big to innovate, but Alphabet might be too big to let live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So Google is now Alphabet. \u00a0Don\u2019t let the org chart games fool you; the bits of Google that are practical and presumably making money or heavily involved in same (search, advertising, YouTube, Android) are being staffed out to themselves but the founders are running Alphabet, which appears to be composed of moonshots and 100x and … <\/p>\n

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