Book review: <I>dot.con</i> by John Cassidy

 

Gallery

By Alun Williams

Posted on 16 Dec 2002 at 15:23

The day after the deal, however, AOL stock fell by almost 10 per cent. Investors were starting to examine the new media company with the sober judgement they applied to old media companies - it was no longer an Internet company, with supposed Internet growth rates. It was a significant transition. This re-evaluation of a company's worth would eventually be repeated across the new technology sector, with the dawning realisation that projected growth rates were unrealistic, share values were unsustainable and the prospect of any profit often a mirage. The bubble was about to burst.

Cassidy also captures the times well when he describes the collapse of the markets - the final days of numerous stupidname.coms, desperately eyeing a lucrative stock flotation before the gravy train leaves town for the last time. What is clear is that many a company staged persuasive visionary presentations for venture capitalists, but were rather weaker when it came to the issue of sustainable business models.

A verdict on the book? Not one for those interested in the technical or social sides of the Internet (Web standards, for example, or the social phenomena that surround the Net are not considered). The book concentrates on the commercialisation of the Web and the business practices involved. It is a recommended read, however. A thorough and readable account of a very recent phenomenon. Modern history that we have all lived through.

dot.con by John Cassidy,
Penguin Books, 2002,
£9.99
356 pages
ISBN0-713-99598-X