Just a matter of time if this rumour isn't on the level - what's interesting to me is the already furious speed of consolidation in Web 2.0. The real next wave of innovation is just beginning to happen (RSS, tags, etc), and already winners are being acquired at fairly serious valuations fast. We can recite a long list...the point is that incumbents are almost instantly choosing to buy rather than make. I think there are two primary reasons - real estate/customer ownership/etc is becoming (seriously) valuable again, and R&D by acquisition has a far lower opp cost than otherwise.