More Reflections.com

DREW CURTIS - LEXINGTON, KY
King of Farkistan

What are some things that you miss about the dot-com era?
Everybody having a job. That was pretty cool.

What things are you glad are history?
Just about everything. You can look back in the archives to almost the first day we were operational, I was railing against the whole thing even back then. I actually had email arguments with people trying to convince me we were in a “new economy”. These days all of the media pundits seem to have predicted what eventually happened, but back in the day it wasn’t the case.

ALEX EZELL - CHATTANOOGA, TN
Senior Web Developer at Daniel + Douglas + Norcross

What are some things that you miss about the dot-com era?
I miss the unbound energy of that time. I miss the attitude that with enough work and creativity, anything could be acheived. It was a time when young people were given great responsibility and power, as well as great wealth. Sometimes, they handled it well and other times they failed miserably. The great thing about working in the dot-com boom was this sort of unbridled optimism and belief in the individual as part of a team. There was a pervading sense that each person was amazingly valuable to the success or failure of a company. A real family attitude was brought into the office. I think the time also changed the way offices work as well. It made the office more relaxed and probably a more enjoyable place to
be.

I miss the free flow of ideas. The open-source software community is one part of that flow that has hung around. During that time, there seemed to be a greater freedom amogst individuals and even amongst rival companies to share ideas and information. It was a more open way of doing business. I attribute to the evangelism of technology in which we were all taking place part. The dreams of using the Internet and other technologies to better lives and “make things easier” seemed, at times, to be more important than whether or not your company was the biggest, fastest, or best.

What things are you glad are history?
Greed. It was a time of amazingly brash and open-faced greed. In the end, that’s what killed it as well. All the young people driving new cars and living in expensive condos was a sight that seemed to belie the promises and dreams that fueled that wealth.

Though I mentioned earlier that I missed the attitude that technology was a panacea, I find that I am also glad that has passed in a way. I savor and value the human connections that technology affords me in greater numbers. I find myself enjoying the community that the Internet offers more than the whiz-bang “killer apps” of the past. That’s the real strength that sometimes got lost in the “bit ether” of the late 90’s.

Finding a new job every six months. I am glad that I am finally somewhere stable. Sure, I got to see some really great parts of the world because of my skills and the timbre of the times, but it’s nice to feel settled, secure, and comfortable now.

JACK NEWTON - AUSTIN,TX
My former boss at Works, now he’s with IBM

What do you miss about the dot-com era?

The first thought which came to mind was the possibility that you could do anything ? any job you could talk yourself into ? as long as it brought value to the company. People were willing to take risks, especially on kids or folks who didn?t have tons of experience in the subject matter. All that mattered was intellect, optimism and energy. I got do a wide variety of tasks at the first company (Tivoli), including developer, technical instructor and manager, ultimately starting up their first web group. That was great for a guy with a degree in History.

The second thing I?ll miss is the opportunity to build teams the way I wanted to, with the people I wanted to hire. I got to build three teams in five years, and let me tell you, they were heavily populated with some bright, fun people who were glad to be there. I loved bringing on board people who needed to stretch their abilities to succeed, and watching them do just that time and again. Nowadays I work in an entrenched bureaucracy (IBM) with a whole lot of unmotivated, unhappy people. For the most part, my time during the “boom” was surrounded by groups of people who genuinely liked each other, liked spending tons of hours with each other, could rely upon each other, etc. I miss spending my days with my staffs at Works and Tivoli.

What are you glad is gone?
The endless hours of work. The phantom stock price calculations (I never took ANY job for pure money, I swear). The political chicanery of my last job at Works. But that?s about it. Mostly it was a fun, exciting time, and I was glad to be thought of as someone who had a part to play.

November 26th, 2002