Sunday, August 7th, 2005, 4:51 am
The Dot-Com Tragedies
n article on the dot-com fallout comes from CNET. It has just hit Slashdot and it makes an excellent story that is highly recommended to any computer or business enthusiast:
The most astounding thing about the dot-com boom was the obscene amount of money that was spent. Zealous venture capitalists fell over themselves to invest millions in Internet start-ups; dot-coms blew millions on spectacular marketing campaigns; new college graduates became instant millionaires (albeit on paper) and rushed out to spend it; and companies with unproven business models executed massive IPOs with sky-high stock prices. Of course, we all know what eventually happened to this world. Few of these companies actually made enough money to recoup that cash, and when their investors fled to the hills, these start-ups died dramatic deaths. These are the celebrity victims of the new-economy bust.
It is worrying how rapidly things get overvalued given the will. Wishful thinking is all it takes to live in a bubble, which is bound to explode one day. There were talks about a second dot-com boom recently, but they all appear like an overstatement.
Also see: Internet and Nature