Worst Tech Ideas
For those of us who worked in high-tech, the dotcom boom was a little like the stadium siege "debate"; eventually, some dumb idea would leak through and suck you in.
Reading about The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Timebrought it all back to me.
I'd almost forgotten about some of the "winners" in this poll. Softram? Pointcast? The DiVX DVD? Windows ME? Bob?
I'm truly amazed, however, that neither of my dot-bombs made the list.
The first, in 1997, was for a website that "paid" you to read spam. The theory was this: you would fill out a "profile" explaining your personal interests, shopping habits and so on. The "Service" would send you targeted ads (in a proprietary viewer that'd occupy the top ribbon of your web browser) and direct email (on a website that worked like a webmail viewer). If you clicked on an ad or opened an email, the advertiser paid you.
And by "Paid", we mean at a rate that'd make an illegal immigrant turn up his nose and run away. A few of us figured it out once; if you clicked on ads 10 hours a day for a five day week, you'd make 20 dollars. Assuming your dialup connection would load six ads a minute. And assuming that 8,000 merchants would send you new ads every week. The scary part? That company convinced a lot of genuine heavy hitters to leave good jobs with real companies selling actual products.
Now, I'm going to go towel off with my Pets.com stock certificates.
I fully realize that once I make a joke about Pets.com, I will - no, will - get an email saying either:
- "My grandfather shot himself after losing his entire fortune on Pets.com"
- "Hey, don't you know that via a very obscure derivative, those of us who held onto our Pets.com stock are now multimillionaires?"
I am, respectively, shocked and overawed if that's the case, and please accept my condolences and/or amazement.
Posted by Mitch at
May 31, 2006 06:16 AM
| TrackBack
I have to admit to absolutely loving Pointcast. I just hated having to sit there and wait for everything to download. I think the Pointcast idea would have worked had there been faster Internet connections.
Posted by: Ryan at May 31, 2006 09:16 AMMitch,
I thought you worked in health care.
Didn't you give a long defense of your claim of working in health care just a month or two ago?
So it's high tech AND health care. Got it.
Posted by: JB Doubtless at May 31, 2006 09:17 AMJB,
I have designed software for B2B marketing, inventory control, network management, ASP control, process measurement, m0rtgage process control, commercial/institutional credit, medical marketing, and healthcare. I *design software*, I am not a marketeer, stock manager, network engineer, ASP developer, process engineer, m0rtgage broker, credit analyst or doctor.
If the distinction is too big a leap for you, perhaps you can email me; I'll send you my resume.
Posted by: mitch at May 31, 2006 10:07 AMYou've had more than one job in your career?
What are you, some kind of socia1ist?
Posted by: Rob at May 31, 2006 11:11 AMI cut my programming teeth in dBASE IV. *sniff* It's a little like going back and leafing through the Keep on the Borderlands D&D module.
Posted by: Jeff at May 31, 2006 12:43 PMMitch,
It just seems that you use the phrase "I work in healthcare" and the phrase "I work in high-tech" interchangably depending on which one will give the point you are making more credibility.
It is similiar to the little rhetorical game you play of "Getting around" on dozens of instruments.
And you forgot to add rap DJ as one of your previous occupations.
Posted by: JB Doubtless at May 31, 2006 04:37 PM"It just seems that you use the phrase "I work in healthcare" and the phrase "I work in high-tech" interchangably depending on which one will give the point you are making more credibility."
Um, no. I design software (high tech) for a health care company (healthcare).
Seems fairly clear to me.
"It is similiar to the little rhetorical game you play of "Getting around" on dozens of instruments."
It's ten, and it's not a rhetorical game. It's a fact: I play ten instruments with degrees of proficiency from really good to just-for-fun.
"And you forgot to add rap DJ as one of your previous occupations."
And I wondered why you didn't mention "logic professor" as one of yours. Chee-rist, JB - what's this hardon you have for trying to pick at my bio? What do you have to gain?
Especially since you are documentably, completely absolutely wrong in every possible particular? As in, your stance is utterly devoid of truth or merit?
You get *what* out of this?
Posted by: mitch at May 31, 2006 05:55 PMOh nonsense, JB. I was an IT guy at a freight company. Was I in IT, or in freight? The correct answer, is both of course. The same goes for when I ran a print shop at an incentive company and was a buyer at a photography company.
Geez, get a life.
Posted by: Dave E. at May 31, 2006 06:48 PMElder? If you're reading this, explain something to me: is carrying your retarded douchebag brother JB a favor you're doing your parents?
Posted by: Steve at May 31, 2006 07:07 PMPreved Medved
Posted by: baclofen at June 29, 2006 05:06 AMPreved Medved
Posted by: caribbean villa rental at July 1, 2006 09:23 PMgang bang big tits gang bang song
Posted by: Mvbdgkr at October 10, 2006 01:26 AMrape porn films asain rape
Posted by: Afduscw at October 10, 2006 12:48 PMsingle free bbw bbw chubby
Posted by: Ybvuufc at October 30, 2006 07:29 AM