On Fri, 31 Aug 2001 16:49:39 EDT, "Natale, Robert C (Bob)" said:
To really jump the tracks here (since I'm pretty much just
rambling on here anyway): It could be argued that both the
"dot com" mania and melt-down were attributable -- in large
part -- to the same mix of evangelistic and journalistic
misunderstanding of simplicity.
It wasn't simplicity. It was investor stupidity. Too many investors
saw the 'e-' in e-commerce and saw some mystical quality that glossed
over the 'commerce' - things that have been understood for hundreds
of years, like "cash flow" and "business plan". I can guarantee that
even a cobbler in 1100AD understood "I buy leather for X, I sell shoes
for Y, and I need to sell enough shoes so that (Y-X)*n is enough money
that I don't starve".
Many of the dot-bombed had a *very* simple business plan:
"We'll burn investor money while we try to figure out how to make a
profit while giving away the content for free". Now, this is a
perfectly valid business model - if you're a 501(c) charitable
organization and the investors are called "benefactors".
Now as for MLPS, it sounds to me like a good idea for its original
design goals, but is being promoted for so many other things that
many people are confused - Does it *really* slice, dice, *and*
make Julienne fries?
Valdis Kletnieks
Operating Systems Analyst
Virginia Tech