The dotcom boom and bust has been voted the most influential Internet moment of the past 10 years, by organisers of the annual Webby Awards:
“Launched by Netscape’s IPO in 1995, the dotcom boom spurred trillions of dollars in private investments into the Internet, new technologies, marketing, and fiber optic cable and led to the development of such landmark sites as Google. Though now often synonymous with failures like Pets.com and Boo.com, the dotcom boom and bust was critical to fast-tracking the spread and popularity of the Internet. In 1995, there were 16 million people online. Today, there are over 957 million.”
It’s true, people often forget the positive impact of the Boom and Bust. Companies like Amazon, eBay, Google and Yahoo! not only survived the bust, but came out of it much bigger and stronger. Unlike some sock puppets, which became dog tucker (photo credit).
Also two recent events made it on the list. According to Netscape News:
“The Asian tsunami in December made the top-10 list at number six, for marking the emergence of “citizen journalism” as, with news agencies racing to reach the hardest hit areas, the first accounts were largely provided by ordinary people armed only with digital cameras and internet access.
The Live 8 series of concerts against global poverty, watched live online by more than five million people, was listed in eight place.”
