Very creative article on IT and the Dot.com Mania
IT, Ginger, And The Dot.com Mania
13-Feb-01 06:45 ET
[BRIEFING.COM - Robert V. Green] About a month ago, you may have heard something about a patented new invention, about which little was known, which was going to change the world. Sometimes called "Ginger," sometimes called "IT," rumors about this new transportation device swept the media world by storm, and a flurry of articles and stories appeared about it. Since then, we've heard nothing, and the world hasn't changed much. Brings back memories of the internet mania, doesn't it?
What Is "IT?"
Around the middle of last month, there was a blitz of media coverage about "IT." A Supposedly a revolutionary new transportation device invented by Dean Kamen, and patented by his company, DEKA Research, IT was variously described as a "hovering scooter," "self-balancing scooter," and even a "wearable car."
It is exactly what the media loves: intrigue, business, revolution, mystery. And the media fell for the hype with enthusiasm.
Here is a set of links for articles about "IT"
Reuters article: "Ginger" inventor appears at Davos, stays mum
News Factor: 'Ginger' Inventor Downplays 'Greatest High-Tech Invention'
Industry Standard: IT's a Bird, IT's a Plane, IT's a ... Scooter?
Forbes: article: Reinventing The Wheel
You can also read all about IT at: TheITQuestion.com.
The best that anyone has been able to describe is that it is somehow an improvement upon the extremely popular Razor scooters so popular with children. In fact, some have stated that "IT" is so amazing, it will radically change the world as we know it.
How is it that so many people can prognosticate on IT's benefits, when no one knows what it is?
Where Is "IT?"
So now it is a month later, and nothing has happened. We got tired of waiting for details about what "IT" really was. Wasn't anyone working on finding out what "IT" is?
Then it hit us.
We have been waiting to see what "IT" really is. That was our mistake.
We should have been waiting for the IPO of DEKA.
After all, the way the media reacted to "IT" is exactly how they reacted to early stories about the internet. And the media's obsession with the internet was precisely what drove the stock market to such ridiculous heights.
How "IT" Is Like The Internet Craze
Consider how similar the IT craze is to the Internet craze:
Attribute What they said:
Internet Craze What they said:
IT
Promise Will change the world Will change the world
Exactly how? You'll see You'll see
Quotes by famous people Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, John Doerr, other people you never heard of, but who are clearly gurus Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, John Doerr, other people you never heard of, but are clearly gurus
Market Size Bigger than you can calculate, don't even bother calculating, because it changes all the rules "People will build cities around it" -Steve Jobs
Press Coverage ...Blah, blah, ....Jeff Bezos could be the person who starts the internet revolution...blah, blah... - sources too numerous to count. "Overnight, the world's fuel bills would plummet, pollution would drop, the oil-producing nations of the Mideast would be transformed, and Kamen could be known as the man who started the next industrial revolution." - Boston Globe.
Gross profits derived from sales of companies in the space None. None.
Once you recognize this parallel, there is only one conclusion.
Forget the scooter: Buy the Stock!
Sorry, Too Late
If you were an online investor in internet stocks over the past three years, you were witness to a future chapter in the book on stock market manias. Billions of dollars were spent on "promises" of revolutionary new products and markets, that would change the world.
When viewed in this light, it is all too clear that the inventors of "IT" missed the window of opportunity.
They should have had an IPO of this company in 1998.
That would have been the real way to make money off of "IT."
Never mind that the product didn't exist then. That didn't stop anyone from taking companies public. What was TheGlobe.com's product? It was supposed to change the world, too, but we admit, as we did then, to never understanding what TGLO was all about, as a business. But it didn't stop the capital markets from bringing it public.
All based on the idea that internet companies would "change the world."
So it seems fitting now that "IT" should come along, with great promises of altering our way of life, but no real explanation of why, how, or even what the product actually is. This masterpiece of marketing hype is just following the example that the capital markets set during the internet craze.
After all, we all "fell for it" just two years ago, didn't we? |
