The Yellow Pages is a decidedly old economy way to make money. The difference in it and most "new economy" businesses is it's dependable revenue, cash and profit streams. Even in the on line database variations of the yellow pages, there is a clear business proposition with understandable value propositions to customers.
The problem I have with the term "new economy" is that it smacks of something beyond free enterprise or capitalism. It makes no difference how "electrified" our transactions become or how fast information passes from one constituency to the next, supply and demand will prevail (absent government intervention).
We may indeed see some new metrics with respect to the price elasticity of demand, but that's not "new economy." As consumers - corporate, retail or otherwise - get information we may discover that a unit drop in price yields 2X or 3X more demand. Those metrics simply show what is possible as we approach the theoretical underpinnings of a free market economy. Certainly, they are enabled by technology, but it's not apparent to me that we've entered any type of "new economy."
Thresholds have been surpassed in other fields, but the basic science remains intact. Breaking the sound barrier, driving 30 miles to the gallon and communicating wirelessly via cellular communications were breakthroughs that altered our economy and capabilities in meaningful ways. Some practical barriers in the field of economics have been breached giving rise to our pursuit of the theoretical limits, but isn't it interesting that the yellow pages remains a business that carries a real value?
Big Financiers Are Jostling to Acquire Unit of Qwest. The auction for the yellow pages business of Qwest Communications International is turning out to be this season's big private equity derby. By Andrew Ross Sorkin. [New York Times: Technology]
