Large behemoths will get smaller, leaner and more focused. They'll link to networks of services suppliers. But they'll monitor and measure how well the entire linked ecosystem is doing in meeting customers' needs and outcomes. I mean, an AOL paying subscriber is hardly the same as a Yahoo visitor. I see LOTS of companies moving towards subscriber-based models.
Customers renew their loyalty very explicitly, at least once a year.
They either renew or they don't. That's pretty measurable. And, its the fundamental difference between the AOL model and the Yahoo model. We went through hot e-tailers, hot B2B software and market makers, sizzling optical equipment makers and the wireless investing explosion. But I use customer convenience and saving customers' time as two important indicators of technologies that will take off, at least in the industrialized part of the world in which time has become the scarcest commodity.