Boom, bust, decay, and the house of cards

Microsoft's Steve Balmer threw a fit when he heard Mark Lucovsky was defecting to Google. He picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office, according to court documents. Mr. Ballmer then said: "F***ing Eric Schmidt is a f***ing pussy. I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google." (via Searchblog)

But the intriguing thing about this piece of information is Ballmer's belief that: "Google's not a real company. It's a house of cards."

Henry Blodget in a WSJ op-ed says there are four phases of Internet development,akin to other industries: boom, bust, mature growth and decay.

"The growth of the Internet has paralleled that of most industries based on revolutionary technology. Canals, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, cars, radios, personal computers - all progressed (or are progressing) through four phases of development: boom, bust, mature growth and decay."

He says we are now in a state of Mature Growth.

So next up, another boomlet, then perhaps Decay? What happens in a future world when everyone has broadband on every mobile device ever invented? Will we need all that information?