100 Dumbest Moments in dotcom land

March 18, 2002 2:51 PM

100 Dumbest Moments in dotcom land a particular favourite being.. "Candice Carpenter tells Fast Company in Feb 98, 'There isn't an Internet company in the world that's going to fail because of mistakes -- Internet companies make thousands of mistakes every week" .... quite :) (via lesser-evil)
posted by zeoslap (15 comments total)

I'm so glad Candice is finally receiving the public ridicule she so richly deserves. (I'm married to an ex-iVillage employee. Worst-run dotcom I've ever seen. Hands-down.)
posted by ook at 2:58 PM on March 18, 2002

Previously discussed here (a different url, and an old link, so no surprised it wasnt found just thought you'd want to know).
posted by malphigian at 3:04 PM on March 18, 2002

You mean my CueCat isn't using push technology?

Crap.
posted by Skot at 3:07 PM on March 18, 2002

Doh! I just knew something full of such comedy gold had to have been posted.... well it's worth a second glance :)
posted by zeoslap at 3:11 PM on March 18, 2002

*patiently awaits DotComGuy mention*
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:12 PM on March 18, 2002

Hey, check out No. 18: Some dude changed his name to "DotComGuy" and didn't leave his house for a year. Nowadays there are people who haven't gone outside for a year because they got laid off from their dotcom jobs and they're moping around the house -- I guess those people are LaidOffDotComGuys.
posted by barkingmoose at 3:22 PM on March 18, 2002

My favorite:

#70: Microsoft's user-authentication service, Passport.com, shuts down after the company neglects to renew its domain-name registration. On Christmas Day 1999, a user from Nashville, Tenn., pays the $35 fee, and the site goes back online the following day.
posted by gazingus at 3:58 PM on March 18, 2002

I wonder how much that $1.5M, uninhabitable, fire-damaged house in Silicon Valley would sell for today? Judging by my prior experience with the Bay Area housing market during a recession (1990), I'm guessing not a whole lot less.
posted by MrBaliHai at 4:08 PM on March 18, 2002

I personally lived through number three. This information is outdated, though. marchFIRST laid off more than 9,000 employees total by the time it declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
posted by razorwriter at 4:20 PM on March 18, 2002

Hmmm... makes my dot-com bust story not seem so bad. However, $45 million down the drain and NOT ONE THING to show for it but "launch parties," foosball, 3 empty office suites (in the same building as zdnet, incidentally), two name changes, 5 "repositioning" decisions, $8 million outright purchased hardware, and 160 way overpaid employees down to 4 people, is a pretty good story.

I'm glad I lived through it and was in the middle of it, it makes for some great stories. I saved a lot of money from the high wages, enjoyed a great work social life for about a year, and now have a much better job. It's so weird to think how much of that seemed okay and normal at the time. No wonder "the other people" out in the world thought we all were crazy.
posted by aacheson at 4:37 PM on March 18, 2002

Certainly one of those events must have involved Courtney Pulitzer. Oy.
posted by ParisParamus at 10:13 PM on March 18, 2002

I miss BBQ.com......
posted by nathanc at 8:03 AM on March 19, 2002

Didn't we already discuss this (ten month old) article? It sure seems familiar.
posted by rodii at 9:03 AM on March 19, 2002

I miss BBQ.com......

BBQ.COM is on vacation! Please check back with us later! In the meantime, we highly recommend that you check out: Zappos.com - The Web's Most Popular Shoe Store!

Didn't we already discuss this (ten month old) article? It sure seems familiar.

Dude - second comment, fourth comment.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 7:09 PM on March 19, 2002

mmm, BBQ -

Iowa BBQ
posted by ducktape at 10:41 PM on March 19, 2002