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  • Excite@Home bankrupt?

    For the past several years people who should know better have been telling me that the financial model of the internet is a new paradigm. That fundamental economics such as cash flow, supply and demand, and balance sheets simply do not apply to this new economy. Anything sensible to the contrary was scoffed at. A retort was given that I must be ignorant of the situation, and I had better get on the bus, or be left in the dust. I missed that bus. A little over a year ago Barron's published a list of about one thousand public companies that would completely run out cash within six months. The NASDAQ was over 6000 at the time. The analysis was just a compendium of public documents available for any publically traded company. The phrase "Running out of cash" meant that the company would have no operating capitol whatsoever. No payroll, No reserves, nothing. The rest is history, and I don't know where these financial geniuses are hiding these days. Perhaps with the doggy sock puppet! The bottom line, is that it should surprise no one when an internet company goes belly up. At long last, firms are taking a look at there own internet presence, and asking "How much is this costing me?" before "How much revenue is coming in from this?" Even B to B sites are looking at the ROI. The fact of the matter, is that we are in a recession. Firms can no longer hemmorage cash. It is going to be a fairly simple matter for some shops to continue business as usual while shutting down their internet presence, or at least cutting back. Many companies have determined that if the internet does not enhance the business either long term or short term, then why be there? For those firms that have determined that the internet actually does enhance business, a long look is being performed on the how and why. This means that the superflous is being trimmed, and internet investment is being cut back. The good news, is that the internet is becoming refined, and redefined. Over the next five years we should see better standards all around. This will mean a more cohesive, easier to work with web. The companies that survive this mess, will be the ones who have it right, and their methods are the ones that will be utilized by others. Dave

  • #2
    Excite@Home bankrupt?

    Dave; You might want to check some of the books reviews at www.utdallas.edu/~roberth I'm told an old chinese curse is: "May you live in interesting times" ; everyone in the dot-com mess is now in interesting times. What burns me is, so many of the scoundrels got out with millions and millions and produced zilch, nada .... bobh

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    • #3
      Excite@Home bankrupt?

      How would you like to have this happen? Click here for details - http://www.msnbc.com/news/665584.asp

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      • #4
        Excite@Home bankrupt?

        I suppose as long as the service stayed up to snuff, and the rates did not increase, I would just procede as usual. I'm sure there will be many users who do not even notice that a substitute provider is now providing. OTOH, if I lost service completely, I would have to find more to do with my time, and that means getting around to some of the chores that my wife has been asking me to do. THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE!!! :-) Dave

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        • #5
          Excite@Home bankrupt?

          Click here for more information - http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...829058,00.html

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          • #6
            Excite@Home bankrupt?

            The fact that the "internet bubble" burst certainly came as no surprise to most of us here. But the ventures that failed were those that tried to apply "traditional" economic models to the domain, such as direct sales and advertizing methods. Very few direct B2C ventures succeeded, and most of those involved existing merchants who already had stores and who knew their target market well. Advertizing failed since most people ignore the ads, or get turned off by "in your face" techniques. There are methods that do work, but in many cases might be hard to quantify. First, B2C efforts can work, but not for products that are readily available in the nearest mall anyways. The only products I've purchased over the net are not commonly available in North America. In that case, the web site I've bought stuff from is an extension of a pre-existing store, and the web is used to widen their target market. Do their web sales cover their internet expenses? I don't know, but that particular web site has survived the internet bust. Second, web sites offer information and support to customers, thus enhancing the relationship between buyer and seller. This, of course, is not easy to quantify by the bean-counters. This kind of web site is practically a cost of doing business - you can't afford NOT have a web presence these days. Let's look at another specific example. Would MC Press still be in business were it not for the internet? Their traditional method of reaching potential customers disappeared when Midrange magazine ceased publication. Larger publishers, like O'Reilly, would still have a large enough business with book stores to survive without the internet. Look at O'Reilly: Does most of their web content directly contribute to income? One final point: I disagree with your point that better, more refined standards will help. There are companies that do understand the internet, and are successful today. Buying into the promise of better technology is what fueled the whole internet bubble in the first place!

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            • #7
              Excite@Home bankrupt?

              Two years ago the market got too crazy for me. I rode the roller coaster of Red Hat and VA Linux (and fortunately made money) and also that of Corel (and unfortunately lost money) and found it to nerve racking for me. At that time I pulled all my individual investments out of those dot come ventures and plunged it all in my hometown's company, Amgen. While Amgen has flourished, my mutual funds have languished. All in all, though, I'm about even over the last two years which is something I like to brag about. Go figure. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "David Abramowitz" wrote in message news:21cedb0c.0@WebX.WawyahGHajS... | For the past several years people who should know better have been telling me that the financial model of the internet is a new paradigm. That fundamental economics such as cash flow, supply and demand, and balance sheets simply do not apply to this new economy. Anything sensible to the contrary was scoffed at. A retort was given that I must be ignorant of the situation, and I had better get on the bus, or be left in the dust. | | I missed that bus. | | A little over a year ago Barron's published a list of about one thousand public companies that would completely run out cash within six months. The NASDAQ was over 6000 at the time. The analysis was just a compendium of public documents available for any publically traded company. The phrase "Running out of cash" meant that the company would have no operating capitol whatsoever. No payroll, No reserves, nothing. | | The rest is history, and I don't know where these financial geniuses are hiding these days. Perhaps with the doggy sock puppet! | | The bottom line, is that it should surprise no one when an internet company goes belly up. | | At long last, firms are taking a look at there own internet presence, and asking "How much is this costing me?" before "How much revenue is coming in from this?" Even B to B sites are looking at the ROI. | | The fact of the matter, is that we are in a recession. Firms can no longer hemmorage cash. It is going to be a fairly simple matter for some shops to continue business as usual while shutting down their internet presence, or at least cutting back. Many companies have determined that if the internet does not enhance the business either long term or short term, then why be there? | | For those firms that have determined that the internet actually does enhance business, a long look is being performed on the how and why. This means that the superflous is being trimmed, and internet investment is being cut back. | | The good news, is that the internet is becoming refined, and redefined. Over the next five years we should see better standards all around. This will mean a more cohesive, easier to work with web. The companies that survive this mess, will be the ones who have it right, and their methods are the ones that will be utilized by others. | | Dave

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