> Both Android and Chrome need to be spun out--at this point they are basically public utilities.
And then what: future development paid for by taxes, done by public servants who can't be fired? A House Committee on Chrome's WhatWG standards compliance?
It's a line-item hack but I believe it's for a different purpose: investors are asking for more details on revenue and expenses of the various units. Splitting the monolith Google into Alphabet + stuff provides line-items along "objective" lines that are still chosen by the company.
One of the things people were anxious to see was the financials of YouTube. Guess who's not a separate "bet"?
And then what: future development paid for by taxes, done by public servants who can't be fired? A House Committee on Chrome's WhatWG standards compliance?