I am pleased to see the jelly donut metaphor put to such good use! I think you understand our intentions well. When the Web offers searches which produce vastly more sites than one can process, or social networking which tends to emphasize the social aspects over the richness of content, the middle way you describe is a natural and valuable development. It will surely arise from many sources, not just the two you mention, but the need is pressing and clear. Does need translate always into profitability? Clearly not, but there is no reason to suppose that unique and valuable content on the Web will not be rewarded. Wolfram Alpha’s recent arrangement with Bing may suggest a model. The inevitable return of high advertising growth to the digital media will surely reward those with high quality content and the traffic this will draw. The value of the brands alone will be considerable. Wolfram Alpha’s credibility was aided by Mathematica and Book of Odds has achieve a very rapid penetration at the positioning one aimed for: entertaining AND accurate. The ancillary revenue sources beyond the core Web revenues will be quite significant, or that is our hope. Five years? I will bet you jelly donuts against dollars that we make it with room to spare!

With warm regards from a former consulting colleague!

Amram