Why online games aren't stupid

The buzz at Fortune Brainstorm Tech last weekend, as I mentioned in Monday's Postcard, was much about the power of online games. Google (GOOG), Walt Disney (DIS), and lots of startup folks view social games as a most efficient pathway to getting active Internet users to spend money online.

So, what do you know, a bunch of social-game deals are making headlines this week. Fortune.com's JP Mangalindan and I co-wrote a story about the boom. (Thanks, JP, even though at Brainstorm Tech I hung out with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, the king of online games, I'm not a gamer gal.) "How social gaming became the future of the Internet" explains the trend.