Welcome to The 21st Century

摘要

On the surface, it looked like just another awe-some megadeal. There were the top executives up on stage, palling around like local-TV anchors— and assuring everyone that this would be a merg-er of equals, a careful blending of two compa-nies, two cultures. But make no mistake: America Online is the acquirer. The trading symbol for the new company, tellingly, is AOL. Given the realities of the New Economy, it could hardly be otherwise. By now, the pattern is clear: The digital will prevail over the analog, new media will grow faster than old, and the leaders of the Net economy will become the 21st century Establishment.