Google CEO Eric Schmidt vs. media pundit Mark Cuban

So, is Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt a moron? Charlie Cooper over at CNET ponders this question with great flair and also brings up a person whose blog I've been following for quite some time -- Mark Cuban. Cuban has been on record now -- many times, in fact -- saying that any company that buys YouTube is completely off their rocker.

And then, just about this time last week, vicious rumors started swirling like Midwestern tornadoes that Google was in fact in the process of acquiring the web's largest social video-sharing site. But, it's one rife with copyright problems that have been put a little under control, but not enough to satisfy Cuban -- and many others, for that matter.

Does Google see the future of the web with non-text and non-graphic interactions? Apparently it sees something, but even spending $1.65 billion in stock is just a small touch for Google and its war chest of cash. The purchase price was small, all things considered, but it must prove its value to GOOG shareholders in the years ahead.

After reading Cooper's column though, I couldn't help but be struck with a rather interesting similarity between what Cuban did over six years ago when he sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for over $5 billion. This has allowed Cuban to cash out handsomely, but was one of many idiotic mistakes made during the height of the dot-com boom when billion-dollar deals were floating around like crazy (deals that would later evaporate).

Perhaps YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley had this same mentality and decided to "cash out" of YouTube and leave a Internet bellwether holding the bag? Interesting parallel here, since I see many similarities between today's web environment and the one of 1999. So, who's the bigger moron in this situation -- Cuban or Schmidt? Only time will tell.