Nasdaq's Internet Index -- What does it tell us?

Tuesday's announcement by Nasdaq that it has created a new "Internet Index" caught my eye right away, but not enough to blog about -- until today based upon more information I've seen.

My immediate thought was, why do we need this separate index?  Given how Nasdaq describes what types of companies the index covers -- "Internet access providers, Internet search engines, web hosting, website design, and Internet retail commerce" -- I'm not sure how that is any different than the broader "tech-laden" Nasdaq index itself and why there would be a need for a separate measurement.

Indeed, looking at today's comparison charts, doesn't help me see the differentiation.

In addition, with yesterday's post by Richard MacManus revealing the list of companies that make up the index, I was struck by how Bubble 1.0 it seems, with companies like Ariba, ATG, ICG, Interwoven, Navisite, priceline.com, Vignette seeming to predominate the list.  Certainly the current Internet bellweathers like Amazon, Google and Yahoo are on the list, but as Richard points out, Microsoft and News Corp. are not.  Which leads me to conclude that it doesn't feel to me, anyway, that it's reflective enough of where the Internet is going (social networks, semantic web, search, etc). 

I'll be following this going forward to see what kind of value this index has -- or the insight it gives.