I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Skype and Google lately. Of course Skype is a peer-to-peer (P2P) voice over IP (VOIP) Company that provides free digital telphony between members of its network over a broadband connection. It’s like Vonage and other VOIP companies in that you can call out to (Skype Out) and receive calls from (Skype In) traditional voice devices for an additional fee. The Skype client provides messaging, file transfer and voice communications between users on Linux, Mac OS, Windows and Windows CE.
Several weeks ago Bob Cringley reported that Rupert Murdoch was possibly in discussions to acquire Skype for approximately 3 billion dollars. As it turned out Skype didn’t sell.
Google announced this week plans to raise an additional 4 billion dollars through a public stock offering. That’s enough additional cash to fund further
organic expansion; Google already has 3 billion in reserve. So the question arises: what are they going to do with $7 BB in cash reserves?
FEW DOUBT THE LINKAGE BETWEEN BASIC RESEARCH and technological innovation. Historically the US government has funded the majority of basic research done in the US. However, government spending on basic research as a percentage of GDP has been declining for the last 20 years. What is the future of innovation in America?
We're all familiar with the term research and development (R&D). It’s a phrase measuring the amount of money a corporation invests in gathering new knowledge or creating new products. Investors use a corporation’s expenditures on R&D as one factor in determining its potential for growth and competitiveness. But let's dig a little deeper into the macroeconomic view of R&D.
