For real-time collaboration purposes, it is a perfect storm: full-time connectivity offers bleeding-edge developers access to global resources 24/7, from anywhere in the city.
So in view of that wonderful news, why is Earthlink's stock flat? Om Malik wrote a very detailed article on the subject, wherein he says:
"Like America Online, Earthlink has been in a desperate fight to make itself over, using any and every broadband technology. Broadband over powerlines, Fixed Wireless, MuniWireless, Broadband MVNO, and Voice over IP - anything to get off its dependency on incumbent - DSL or cable - access pipes.
"These are expensive initiatives that come at particularly harrowing time for the company. According to its most recent earnings statement, the company is losing premium dial-up customers who are switching to cheaper People PC offerings or to broadband. The broadband business’ profits are taking a toll, because of increased competition and costs."
My own take on the subject is much more simple. Earthlink's stock is flat because their technical support has continued to deteriorate every year since they decided to save money and outsource their help desk to India. I won't bore you with my tier one tech support horror stories. Suffice to say, I haven't recommended Earthlink as an ISP choice for several years, and don't intend to start now, in spite of my happiness at San Francisco going Wi-Fi.
