In only a few years, the Internet has become the world's grandest and most useful communication medium, making quickly accessible ever more accumulated information and messaging. It is changing societies throughout the world as no other. It is too vast to fathom or describe. Its great virtue, and, for investors, its great hazard, resides in its open availability to all. Openness is fundamental. All governments in major nations are insisting upon openness (and interoperability) as cornerstones to national policies. In one respect, open frightens us as a “four-letter” word for competition. New enterprises that are derived through the use of the Internet without having thought through the means of protecting themselves from later entry of more privileged entities are likely to experience only short periods of prosperity. A savage winnowing process for such companies occurred at the beginning of this century. Such events have lead us to select only those companies that bring together parties who have reasons to trade with one another. For such enterprises, the Internet is a wonderfully efficient facility that ensures enduring profitability.

Abundance

• Information
• Entertainment
• Content
• Solutions

Accessibility

• Two-way, interactive
• Ease of use twenty-four hours every day

Universality

• Digital in one place, digital virtually everywhere
• Party-to-party, party-to-many and many-to-party

Voice Driven

• Electronic devices of all sorts will be increasingly voice responsive