Hey Internet (Google, Twitter, Facebook)…There is NO Such Thing as 'Open'…Just 'Open Enough'

Posted by Howard
on December 21st, 2009

The whole ‘Open’ internet meme has always been something I try to avoid because I believe it’s a circle jerk. If you have an open mind you know that open is a fantasy, a myth. No business or person can survive totally open, save Bill Clinton.

You are open until you need to make a profit, than the goal is to be ‘Open Enough’. Open enough to gain and retain trust and open enough to pay the bills. When Twitter raised $100 million they took $100 million more reasons to close just a little more even though they now have the capital to be totally open. Seriously. I mean it.

If Citibank or Goldman started a blog last year, would you trust them anymore? They had a chance to be ‘open enough’ and decided to lie and leverage. If you are really closed and giving the false perception of open…see Tiger Woods and financial companies…you can lose it all overnight. Of course Goldman and Tiger come back, but they are the exceptions.

Today, The Googster $goog took it upon themselves to help us define ‘OPEN’…in their terms …for us…on Tuesdays…between 9 and 9-15 (obscure Caddyshack reference).

Google talking open is like me talking daytrading…just words. It’s a little like ‘Bad Naked ‘.

I love Google and I trust them for my general searches, especially ticker searches. For now, they are open enough. But, when Stocktwits gets real time quotes, I won’t use Google as often for ticker search. Boy, if we could just stay open….

I like how Apple handles open. They could give a shit what you think. The products kick ass and when they stop kicking ass enough, they will lose.

Google should embrace that their search kicks ass enough and focus on it kicking ass longer. It’s almost impossible because they have employee options to reprice , quarterly earnings and shareholders. Damn distractions.

Open intent is great. No person or business should need to or advertise being open. But if you are as big as Tiger Woods, Google, or Goldman Sachs you are best to just leave the subject alone and just be great at what you do. Or buy your damn stock back, and talk about how closed you can be. That would be cool too.

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.