Hot air in cyberspace
From Mr Alasdair Ogilvy Sir: It frightens me to contradict Christo- pher Fildes (City and suburban, 20 May), but even he walks close to the trap of con- fusing technology and dot.coms, both of which he cites as contributors to the 'new paradigm'.
While the American economy has doubt- less enjoyed a huge disinflationary effect from its peerless innovation in technology,
LETTERS
it would be quite wrong to assume that the rash of dot.coms has had very much to do with this. The dot.coms are largely retail `opportunities', funded by venture capital- ists out of optimism or carelessness, which may or may not work as profitable concerns and have no barriers to entry. They are comparable only rarely with the technical companies that provide the infrastructure for the new economy, which, though expen- sive, do not deserve the opprobrium heaped upon the dot.coms in the recent, long-anticipated sell-off.
Shareholders in lastminute.com and boo.com might now identify the difference between technical-intellectual property and hot air.
Alasdair Ogilvy
Battlehurst, Kirdford, West Sussex
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