July 1995
- Jeffrey Bezos launched Amazon.com, first online bookstore.
September 1995
- Pierre Omidyar, developer services engineer for
General Magic (mobile
communication platform company),
launched
online service called Auction Web as sole proprietorship
in his San Jose living room
as online venue for direct person-to-person auction of
collectible items;
correspondents began to register
trade goods of enormous variety; 1997 - name changed to
eBay; hosted nearly 800,000 auctions a day; 1998 - went
public; more than million registered users; recruited Hasbro executive
Margaret Whitman to serve as CEO.
May 1999
- Northeastern University student Shawn Fanning created Napster
peer-to-peer MP3 file-sharing system; attracted 85 million registered
users who were trading as many as 3 billion songs a month;
February 12, 2001
- A federal appeals court ruled the Internet service Napster had to
prevent users from swapping copyrighted music without charge.
(Amazon), Rebecca Saunders (1999).
Business the Amazon.com Way:
Secrets of the World's Most Astonishing Web Business. (Oxford:
Capstone, 288 p.). Web Sites - History, Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos.
(Amazon), Robert Spector (2000).
Amazon.com: Get Big Fast.
(New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 263 p.). Amazon.com--History; Internet
bookstores--United States--History--20th century; Electronic
commerce--United States--History--20th century. Relentless, profitless
expansion.
(Amazon), Mike Daisey (2002).
21 Dog Years: Doing Time @
Amazon.com. (New York, NY: Free Press, 222 p.). Daisey, Mike, 1973-
; Amazon.com (Firm)--History; Amazon.com (Firm)--Biography; Internet
bookstores--United States--History--20th century; Electronic
commerce--United States--History--20th century.
(Amazon), James Marcus (2004).
Amazonia: Five Years at the
Epicenter of the Dot.com Juggernaut. (New York, NY: New Press, 224
p.). Amazon employee #55, one of Amazon's first editors. Marcus, James;
Amazon.com (Firm)--History; Internet bookstores--United States--History;
Electronic commerce--United States--History.
(Boo.com), Kajsa Leander, Ernst Malmsten and Erik Portanger (2001).
Boo Hoo: A Dot-com Story from Conception to Catastrophe. (London,
UK: Random House Business, 224 p.). Boo.com; Electronic commerce;
Business failures.
(CDnow), Jason Olim with Matthew Olim and Peter Kent (1998).
The
CDnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet. (Lakewood, CO: Top
Floor Pub., 236 p.). CDnow (Firm)--History; Sound recordings--Marketing;
Music trade--United States; Business enterprises--Computer networks.
(Craigslist.com), Kyle MacDonald (2007).
One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dreams with the
Help of a Simple Office Supply. (New York, NY: Three Rivers
Press, 320 p.). MacDonald, Kyle, 1979- ; Craigslist.com (Firm); Barter;
Exchange; Electronic commerce. July 2005 - Author
swapped a red paperclip for a house in year-long series of 14
"up-trades" on the internet.
(e-Bay), David Bunnell with Richard A. Luecke (2000).
The e-Bay
Phenomenon: Business Secrets Behind the World's Hottest Internet Company.
(New York, NY: Wiley, 210 p.). Internet auctions.
(e-Bay), Adam Cohen (2002).
The Perfect Store: Inside eBay.
(Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 332 p.). Internet auctions.
(e-Bay), Kenneth Walton (2006).
Fake: Forgery, Lies and eBay. (New York, NY: Simon Spotlight
Entertainment, 304 p.). Walton, Ken, 1967- ; Fetterman, Ken; Internet
fraud--United States--Case studies; Arts--Forgeries--United States--Case
studies; Internet auctions--Corrupt practices--United States--Case
studies. Power of greed - scandal that forever
changed the way eBay does business.
(e-Bay), Elen Lewis (2007).
Great Brand Stories: eBay: The Story of a Brand That Taught Millions of
People to Trust One Another. (London, UK: Cyan Communications,
192 p.). Internet auctions. Online community of
strangers (168 million registered users in 33 countries), trust they exude when exchanging goods,
money.
(e-Bay), Ken Steiglitz (2007).
Snipers, Shills & Sharks: eBay and Human Behavior. (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 298 p.). Professor of Computer Science
(Princeton University). Internet auctions; Game theory.
eBay through lens of auction theory; how human
behaviors in open markets like eBay can be substantially more complex
than those predicted by standard economic theory.
(EToys.com), Adam Wishart and Regula Bochsler (2003).
Leaving Reality Behind: Etoy vs. eToys.com & Other Battles To Control
Cyberspace. (New York, NY: Ecco, 324 p.). EToys.com
(Firm)--Trials, litigation, etc.; Etoy.Corporation--Trials, litigation,
etc.; Internet domain names--Law and legislation; Internet--History.
(Hermès Birkin), Michael Tonello (2008).
Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's
Most Coveted Handbag. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 272
p.). Tonello, Michael; eBay (Firm); Internet auctions;
Selling--Handbags; Businesspeople--Biography.
Semi-bored Massachusetts-based hairstylist, temporary gig in Barcelona,
vanished job assignment, no work visa, Hermès scarf sold on eBay to
generate quick cash; figured out secret to getting Hermès to part with
Birkin bags; sold $ millions of bags, become one of eBay's most
successful entrepreneurs.
(HomePortfolio.com), Tom Ashbrook (2000).
The Leap: A Memoir of Love and
Madness in the Internet Gold Rush. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 295 p.).
Reporter (Boston Globe). Ashbrook, Tom; Internet industry--United States; New
business enterprises--United States; Businessmen--United States--Biography.
(iVillage), Candice Carpenter (2000).
Chapters: Creating a Life of
Exhilaration and Accomplishment in the Face of Change. (New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill. Co-founder, iVillage.com. Success--Psychological aspects; Change
(Psychology). Self-help book.
(Napster), John Alderman; foreword by Evan I. Schwartz; preface by
Herbie Hancock (2001).
Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers
of Music. (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 205 p.). Napster, Inc.;
Sound recording industry--United States; MP3 (Audio coding standard).
(Napster), Trevor Merriden (2001).
Irresistible Forces. The
Business Legacy of Napster & the Growth of the Underground Internet.
(Oxford, UK: Capstone, 178 p.). Editor, Human Resources magazine.
Napster, Inc.; Peer-to-peer architecture (Computer networks); Subject:
Music trade. United States; Sound. Recording and reproducing; Digital
technique; Computer network resources.
(Napster), Joseph Menn (2003).
All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of
Shawn Fanning's Napster. (New York, NY: Crown Business, 355 p.).
Fanning, Shawn; Napster, Inc.; Music trade.
(Wolff New Media LLC), Michael Wolff (1998).
Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush
Years on the Internet. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 268 p.). Creator of
NetGuide. Internet consultants; Success in business; Corporate profits; Internet
industry.
(PayPal), Eric M. Jackson (2004).
The PayPal Wars: Battles with
eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth. (Los
Angeles, CA: World Ahead Pub., 344 p.). Former PayPal Senior U.S.
Marketing Director. PayPal (Firm); Electronic funds transfers equipment
industry; Electronic commerce; Payment--United States.
(Portero), Daniel Nissanoff (2006).
FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way
We Buy, Sell, and Get the Things We Really Want. (New
York, NY: Penguin Press, 256 p.). Web Entrepreneur, Co-Founded
Portero (online facilitation company specializing in the resale of
luxury goods), founded Partminer, one of the first successful
online b2b exchanges. Internet auctions; Secondhand trade.
Online auction "facilitators" will make buying and selling so
hassle-free, so reliable, so lucrative - masses of consumers won't stay
away.
(Siebel Systems), Thomas M. Siebel (2001).
Taking Care of Ebusiness: How
Today's Market Leaders Are Increasing Revenue, Productivity, and Customer
Satisfaction. (New York, NY: Doubleday. Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Siebel
Systems. Electronic commerce; Success in business; Strategic planning.
(theGlobe.com), Stephan Paternot with Andrew Essex (2001).
A Very Public
Offering: A Rebel's Story of Business Excess, Success, and Reckoning. (New
York, NY: Wiley, 236 p.). Co-Founder of theGlobe.com. Paternot, Stephan, 1974- ;
Theglobe.com; Internet industry--Finance; Going public (Securities); Electronic
commerce--United States--Finance; Electronic discussion groups--Management--Case
studies; Electronic games industry--Management--Case studies;
Businessmen--United States--Biography.
(Value America.com), J. David Kuo (2001).
Dot.bomb: My days and Nights at
an Internet Goliath: Optimism-Lunacy-Panic-Crash; I Survived To Tell the Tale.
(Boston, MA: Little, Brown. Former Senior VP (Communications) at Value
America.com. Value America.com; Electronic commerce--United States; Internet
marketing--United States.
John Cassidy (2001).
Dot.Con:
How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era. (New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Staff Writer (New Yorker). Internet industry--United States--Finance;
Electronic commerce--United States--Finance; Stocks--United States;
Electronic trading of securities--United States.
Rory Cellan-Jones (2001).
Dot.bomb: The Rise and Fall of Dot.com
Britain. (London, UK: Aurum Press, 256 p.). Electronic commerce.
Dotcom market's extraordinary decline.
Julian Dibbell (2007).
Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual
Loot. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 321 p). Contributing Editor
for Wired magazine. World Wide Web; Electronic commerce--United
States--History--20th century. March 11, 2003 - author began year trying
to earn living buying and selling virtual artifacts, to get a piece of
estimated $880 million market in virtual goods, commodities; real money
met fantasy gaming.
Michael Indergaard (2003). Silicon Alley: The Rise and Fall of a
New Media District. (New York, NY: Routledge, 256 p.). Associate
Professor of Sociology (St. John's University). Internet industry--New
York (State)--New York; High technology industries--New York
(State)--New York; Internet; Electronic commerce.
Louis E. V. Nevaer (2002).
The Dot-Com Debacle and the Return to
Reason. (Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 317 p.). Electronic commerce;
High technology industries.
Gary Rivlin (2001).
The Godfather of Silicon Valley: Ron Conway
and the Fall of the Dot-Coms. (New York, NY: AtRandom.com, 103 p.).
Journalist. Conway, Ron; Electronic commerce--United States; Capitalists
and financiers--United States.
_______________________________________________
Business History Links
The Museum of E-Failure http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/
The Museum of E-Failure bears witness to the dot.bomb phenomenon, presenting the
last images of the front pages of failed Websites. Steve Baldwin, who maintains
the site, explains, "It is my hope that these screenshots may serve as a
reminder of the glory, folly, and historically unique design sensibilities of
the Web's Great Gilded Age (1995-2001)." The sites are arranged in a long list,
with recent additions on the top of the page. Clicking on a site name brings up
a screen shot of the site's farewell front page. A sort of virtual graveyard,
the Museum of E-Failure represents a memorial on the side of the information
highway.
