They've been buying dark fiber for a good five years. It allows them to have such cheap communications between all their data centers,

All good things are cheap: all bad are very dear

It's generally due to the Internet boom. It's due to both companies like Excite@Home who are further along in their life cycle as well as the second, third, fourth generation startup companies that surround Excite@Home.

They've been buying dark fiber for a good five years. It allows them to have
such cheap communications between all their data centers,

I think it's very difficult to be a successful Internet company that isn't based in Silicon Valley.

It is ironic that the Internet is a global phenomenon -- yet if you're not in Silicon Valley, it's really hard to get a sense of the pace and the connections between those companies. So many of the ideas get transferred in hallway conversations, meetings over lunch and the casual interactions of the companies that are proximate.