3 ms·

"The Web" and "E-Commerce" ended up being quite gigantic "unmet niches" though!

by ido 9mo ago

julkali 9mo ago
Yes, but only 15-20 years later in the extent expected for 2000. The technology wasn't there yet, just like with LLMs.
- cheschire 9mo ago
  Right, one could say it was actually the smartphone that made the Internet as successful as it was being pitched to be in the late 90’s.
  - irishcoffee 9mo ago
    From where I sit, smartphones completely ruined the internet. If you're defining "successful" in the sense of people-making-a-lot-of-money I completely agree. If you're talking about the internet in 2005 vs 2025, smartphones completely ruined the internet. At one point I had half my high school using HTML in their AIM profiles because they thought mine was cool. Now kids can hardly even type on an actual, physical keyboard.
    - cheschire 9mo ago
      We're in complete agreement.
- rollcat 9mo ago
  The technology was there all along, and it's ironic that we're discussing it on this website of all. Look up ViaWeb.
- kjkjadksj 9mo ago
  The tech was there. The websites worked fine. The issue was number of internet users was too low. Look at number of internet users today vs 1999…
  - fc417fc802 9mo ago
    > The issue was number of internet users was too low. I'd argue that's because the tech wasn't there yet. Not the network or other web tech itself but rather the average-person-using-a-computer tech.
mazurnification 9mo ago
If smth is bubble it does not mean that said smth has no value. It just means that there is over investment and thus inefficient investment. Like housing bubble - nobody argues that houses are not needed and are not big part of economy.
WackyFighter 9mo ago
The startups/businesses that provided value survived the bubble bursting.
rsynnott 9mo ago
Yes, but generally not for the companies who were closely involved in the dot-com bubble; Amazon is probably literally the only exception of any significance. And, well, not all bubbles go as well as that. See the cryptocurrency one, say. Or any of a number of _previous_ AI bubbles.

"The Web" and "E-Commerce" ended up being quite gigantic "unmet niches" though!

by ido 9mo ago

"The Web" and "E-Commerce" ended up being quite gigantic "unmet niches" though!

julkali 9mo ago

Yes, but only 15-20 years later in the extent expected for 2000. The technology wasn't there yet, just like with LLMs.

cheschire 9mo ago
Right, one could say it was actually the smartphone that made the Internet as successful as it was being pitched to be in the late 90’s.
- irishcoffee 9mo ago
  From where I sit, smartphones completely ruined the internet. If you're defining "successful" in the sense of people-making-a-lot-of-money I completely agree. If you're talking about the internet in 2005 vs 2025, smartphones completely ruined the internet. At one point I had half my high school using HTML in their AIM profiles because they thought mine was cool. Now kids can hardly even type on an actual, physical keyboard.
  - cheschire 9mo ago
    We're in complete agreement.
rollcat 9mo ago
The technology was there all along, and it's ironic that we're discussing it on this website of all. Look up ViaWeb.
kjkjadksj 9mo ago
The tech was there. The websites worked fine. The issue was number of internet users was too low. Look at number of internet users today vs 1999…
- fc417fc802 9mo ago
  > The issue was number of internet users was too low. I'd argue that's because the tech wasn't there yet. Not the network or other web tech itself but rather the average-person-using-a-computer tech.

mazurnification 9mo ago

If smth is bubble it does not mean that said smth has no value. It just means that there is over investment and thus inefficient investment. Like housing bubble - nobody argues that houses are not needed and are not big part of economy.

WackyFighter 9mo ago

The startups/businesses that provided value survived the bubble bursting.

rsynnott 9mo ago

Yes, but generally not for the companies who were closely involved in the dot-com bubble; Amazon is probably literally the only exception of any significance. And, well, not all bubbles go as well as that. See the cryptocurrency one, say. Or any of a number of _previous_ AI bubbles.