The New Dot-Economy

Half a decade after the dot-com bubble burst, the US is experiencing another boom in internet business. Economic and technological innovation has sent costs into free-fall, encouraging small start-ups to enter high-tech markets considered too expensive until recently. Advances in computer chips, high-speed internet access and open-source software have reduced operating costs dramatically: Web hosting, for example, now costs 1/20th of what it did six years ago. In today’s internet revolution, new companies don’t need to offer new products – they just need to offer traditional products at lower prices. Old heavyweights like Microsoft and Cisco still dominate their markets, of course, but companies that are small, young and nimble have joined the competition. – YaleGlobal