Posted 1:00 PM (0) comments

Sour GoogleGrapes?

The BBC is reporting that some Wall Street experts are cool on Google's IPO plans, specifically the "Dutch auction" method of allocating shares. Showing that spreading FUD isn't limited to tech firms, the Beeb paraphrases the "insiders" arguments as:

* "The mechanism was responsible for some of the least successful IPOs of the period, such as online magazine Salon. " It wasn't the method, but the product that did in Salon. No one believed in a subscription model for an on-line periodical. And they were right!

* "Dutch auctions and other supposedly open IPO forms are blamed for the extraordinary price swings seen in the early days after some high-profile flotations." No, selling to bankers' friends and family (and locking out real investors) are what lead to wild swings after earlier IPOs.

* "Some analysts say they also tend to underprice shares, leading to insufficient returns for the issuer." In fact, they tend to overprice shares as wildly enthusiastic (but "common sense"-challenged) potential investors bid up the price before the issue. In contrast, investment bankers almost always significantly undervalue initial offerings (thus the wildly surging price on first trading day and the huge profits for the friends and family).

Sounds like a lot of investment bankers are seeing the writing on the wall which says that many of their services may no longer be needed - or needed less often - and they don't like it. Tough toenails, guys - go get a real job.

Posted 8:49 AM (0) comments

Its a great day for the Irish

A tip of the virtual cap to Ireland's "e-minister", Mary Hanafin, who has announced that open standards, not open source, will be the backbone of the country's e-government initiative (Open source 'too costly' for Irish e-gov | The Register).

With open standards, all software - whether developed through open source, proprietary, ad hoc or in-house methods - works together so that an organization can pick "best of breed" solutions without worry about non-compatibility.

Ireland also announced plans to scrap e-voting for the time being, not because of fears about "the death of democracy", though. Rather its that old software development problem "creeping featuritis" - the software revisions are coming faster than the government can thoroughly test them! That's something that can, and should, be managed better or another software company brought in. Counting votes isn't rocket science!

Posted 12:06 PM (0) comments

Get your Google while it's hot!

Surprising absolutely no one, Google today filed to offer stock to the public in an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The really fascinating part, though, is how the stock price will be arrived at - an auction. Anyone who wants to may file to bid on the stock (outrageous or manipulative bids will be rejected). This form of "dutch auction" guarantees both top price for current Google stockholders as well as a fair chance for any who want to acquire the stock.

I've always been a big fan of the Mountain View search-engine (and so much more) company, and this latest move shows why. Everybody who should win, wins.

Posted 1:49 PM (0) comments

Emperors, clothing and pundits

Walt Mossberg writes the Personal Technology column for the Wall Street journal. I usually skip it because it tends to be rather basic and general. But it was just brought to my attention (in The Register) that his March 11 column (which should be here, but right now only gives a 404 error) demanded that software & OS vendors, specifically Microsoft, give all users an "effective, free, constantly updated security service requiring little or no user intervention" which would "fend off all kinds of threats and invasions of privacy, including viruses and spyware, without getting all tangled up in academic distinctions." In other words, block everything I might object to without checking with me to see if I want it blocked.

At one time I thought Mossberg had a "gift" in being able to speak to novices on their own level. Now I understand that he was (and is) simply speaking as their peer.

Posted 1:35 PM (0) comments

Free broadband for everyone!

Both the president and the house of representatives have come down heavily in favor of banning taxes on broadband connections. Now the senate, oddly cast as the last voice of reason, faces a Last-Ditch Battle over the issue.

Previously the president (and every other politician looking to be elected - see if John Kerry doesn't speak up later this week) has come down just as hard in favor of universal broadband access. No one, though, has suggested a way to pay for universal broadband access. Personally I'd rather have universal cell phone access first - out in the less populated areas, a working phone is much more necessary to my survival than the possibility of tapping in to the net with my PC. But in order to get that coverage it's going to be necessary to subsidize it either as payments to commercial agencies to pay them for their effort as directly installed government bureaucratic construction organization. Either way its going to take tax receipts to pay for it. Rather than expand any existing taxes, why not simply add a buck a month to existing broadband bills? The money raised would go a long way towards providing communication to every nook and cranny of the country.