I have a theory: CNET can't tell preposterous blustering from real journalism. For years, Cooper has written exactly what he thought, whether or not it had any basis in reality. Sometimes he actually seems to understand the world around him, in which case his columns are a masterpiece of conveying the bleeding obvious. Other times, I wonder if he's spent too long reading "analyst reports" and not enough time actually talking to folks doing the work, using the products, and discussing what's on the bleeding edge of computer technology.
His latest screed, purporting to dissect Google's IPO prospectus, reads like a childish rant. One can easily imagine Cooper thinking, "Damn those meddling kids!" as he contemplates the wealth that Sergey Brin and Larry Page have accrued and will accrue. Perhaps he's jealous that a couple of smart guys who are doing the nearly impossible, i.e. come up with a steady stream of really clever ideas, turn a buck, while keeping their idealism, while he's stuck covering their exploits. In any case, he's been reduced from thoughtful coverage to making incredibly snide ad hominem comments in something that purports to be serious journalism.
Even the teaser blurb is snide: "Charles Cooper wants to get in the last word." Yes, Charles, I bet you do. Unfortunately, his "last word" had nothing to do with the relative merit of the Google IPO, thoughtful consideration of their chances, not even the iconoclastic Dutch auction that they are using to apportion shares. Instead, we see him lambast the duo with such intellectual criticism as "I now see that juvenile pomposity did not go out of style with the passing of the Nehru jacket" and "This just in: Mary Poppins was sighted at 30,000 feet."
If this is the best CNET can do in terms of editorial commentary, which it must be, considering that he is the executive editor of commentary, I believe that CNET is doomed. Cooper, in 2001, stated that he did not think blogs would ever replace traditional journalism. He must be quite confident in that prediction to post an article that read like a not-particularly-savvy blog entry to a mainstream news source.