Underwriting the Internet

Chapter 5 Dot-com Roadkill

The roadrunners of the last chapter that became the giants of e-commerce now walk more demurely among us, earnestly rebuilding or, like eBay, methodically expanding their franchises within the new constraints. Shareholders, aghast at the extent of their losses, still have residual value in their investments and at the very least can tearfully pray for the return of the information, Internet, digital hoopla that might send their holdings heavenward. Others do not share such hopes. Their securities have gone up in smoke and all that remains are the bitter lessons these smashups offer to the next generation of players in capitalism's principal casino. The difference between the survivors and the slain centers on the lack ...