Ask.com: Light Bulb Latency
October 12, 2010
Years ago I had dinner with a couple of lower tier consulting firm wizards. One of these folks extolled the virtues of Ask.com. Since I was not paying for dinner, I listened and wrote off that azure chip outfit and thought about walking my dog.
I read “IAC Boss Barry Diller Disses Ask, Says It Has “No Value” and recognized what I call light bulb latency. The term is useful when a person takes a long, long time to observe the obvious. Persistence is a virtue, but as flawed as Web usage data are, the basement is the basement. Millions after millions mean more money will be needed but the basement is a welcoming place, tough to leave.
According to the write up:
I did not say that Ask has no value inside of IAC, period. In response to a specific question, I said that many of our assets are not ‘valued’ in the stock, and Ask is one of them…I was asked specifically if Ask would be better off with us or another company or standing alone. In the context of that question, I said that since it wasn’t valued in IAC – like so many of our businesses, because we have so many – that it would only be ‘valued’ stand alone.
I accept this. I will say it and with no light bulb latency. Ask.com is going to have a tough time leaving the rec room, the flat screen TV, and chips. In for the duration.
Stephen E Arnold, October 12, 2010
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2 Responses to “Ask.com: Light Bulb Latency”
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light bulbs these days are getting replaced by compact fluorescents and LED based ones, original incandescent bulbs are power h ”
light bulbs are good for lighting the home but stay away from incandescent lamps because they generate so much heat :,,