The information was there, the judgments were not. He could have added that neither did the investing public, which had available to it a mass of information equal to the Mississippi River in springtime compared with the trickle available to earlier investors. The most-remarkable mistake of all, however, was that of top technology executives who, using their own analytical software creations, failed to foresee the cataclysmic collapse of their own markets. Technology and the flow of information might be mind-boggling, but they are neutral until married to judgment. Its lessons, such as an appreciation of long-term averages and standards, still apply.
Corporate profits are essential.
Markets for a company's products are essential. Profits almost went out of style among some dot- com investors. They had none. Worse, they didn't even have a market. You can't shunt responsibility to someone else.