Dot-Com bust creating more homeless

[Richard_Cranium72]

The demise of dot.com industries is much similar to the airline industry.

After de-regulation the mentality of the Airline executives was "He who bleeds to death last, Wins"

Much the same with the dot.com's

In search of the ever elusive black ink, dot.coms have been selling products below cost..
This does not make for a happy ending.

Another slant,, IMHO, is the ever-so-cheap pricing structure we've been enjoying for the last couple of years is about to bust.

sadly

DrVette

[MadMatt]

[rant]
I hate to be cynical but - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no sympathy for Dot-Commers who were too busy to plan for the future or bother to aquire any life skills.

The sooner they realize that they won't be retiring at 30 the better off they will be. Life stinks sometimes. Grow up! They need to learn from it, adapt and get over it.

There is still plenty of work out there - maybe not as a Programmer or DBA, but so what. These folks need to suck it up and get something, *anything* to pay your bills. Here's another though - they could MOVE! That's what many of us natives had to do when these people came in and jacked the rents sky high....[/rant]

[daveleau]

Here in Charleston, there is a dwindling market for tech work. This affects more than those who were looking for a quick buck. It includes many, like my fiancee who is the art director for Sailnet.com. Even with almost a decade of experience, it was difficult for her when she had to change jobs 3 years ago. Now the market is still small and we are hoping that Sailnet.com will last until we leave here in January.

MADMATT
It is not something to be laughed at and I take great acception to anyone who laughs at our situation or any situation where others are stressed. It is totally uncool, unprofessional and untolerable. It is a great source of stress. While she will not be homeless if Sailnet folds, it will be a great hardship. It is not her fault that the market for professionally trained art designers with a deep interest and vast experience in tech fields has such a dwendling market. I will make a promise MadMatt, when Northern Cali falls into the sea, or you lose your Jack of all trades, but master of none computer job, I will not laugh.

[SysOpt]

Wow MadMatt, somebody's jealous. Those that got wealthy, some temporarily, by the dot-com boom had skills, believe me. Stocks were going through the roof and companies were rewarding their employees with valuable options and high pay. Then suddenly, poof, that goes away. You think it is the employee's fault or that somehow they deserve to be tossed out on the street just because they were doing better than you? Hardly.

[OuTpaTienT]

Ya know Matt, wanting to laugh or make light of the dot-com'ers situation can certainly be understood. Especially from the perspective of us native to the area. HOWEVER, actually doing that shows an utter lack of class, as well as self-control.

[Goldwingnut]

MadMatt: I have learned the hard way; Karma is speeding up. That's what Darwin Awards are: Instant Karma.

When I worked in a shipyard, I thought cable pullers and painters were funny - one the least skilled of electrical jobs, the others looked like chimney sweeps at the end of the day.

Then I got laid off. Pawned everything I thought I owned. Was down to my last $17 - a refund check because the car insurance folks overcharged me. Then I got rehired...

As a painter. Worked my way back into the electrical department as a cable puller.

I don't find the misfortunes of the working class funny anymore. And I keep my opinions of the non-working class to myself, unless they ask for advice.

Hopefully you are young, and will learn.

[MadMatt]

Wow! I really got something going here! I guess I went off the deep end a bit. Let me explain:

Dave - My comments were directed at Silicon Valley specifically, not Charleston. The Bay Area is where I was born and raised. A few years back I found myself forced out of my HOME when my rent went from $800/mo to $2500/mo just like that! I watched from a distance as the entire character of the region was changed and not for the better. 5 years ago it didn't feel like LA - now it does and I think that sucks. Comments in the article like ``They lose their car, and they can stand it'' and ``I cashed in half my stocks to eat" are sickening to me. The real tragedies are not the 30 year olds who now have to keep working, it's the 80 year old grandmothers who were driven to the streets, the non-profits that closed because there were no volunteers, and the unique feel of neighborhoods that was 'Starbuckized' into oblivion. Everyone seems to have forgotten all that.

Does the defilement of my native land fill me with spite and anger and cause me to speak without thinking it all the way through sometimes? Sure did today, didn't it?

Oh, and I no longer can afford to live on the seaward side of the San Andreas Fault. :P

Scott - Sure I was jealous. Absolutely! I think most of us were/are. Does that cloud my reasoning on this subject? Yup! "Credo, ergo est" I'm afraid. I just can't fathom why I should feel sorry for intelligent, able bodied individuals who refuse to roll with the punches. I mean - homeless shelters?! C'mon!

[This message has been edited by MadMatt (edited 06-18-2001).]

[RobRich]

Comment on the news post? What ya' talking about, I'm personally living though the .com train wreck! Though I was smart enough to properly invest and develop my incoming funds as the "e-hype" was clearly reaching an end when I entered the business.

One small spark of light appears at the end of the dark tunnel that is known as freelance .com writing: my chance to atleast continue work on my writings (maybe a book in 2002 ) and complete my education.

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 06-19-2001).]

[SysOpt]

Well, "rolling with the punches" is easier said than done. Lots of folks went from millionaire to nada (or close to it) in 6 months time. Imagine the emotional impact. Okay, so maybe it was silly, maybe some people didn't deserve the dough, but it just isn't right to give people that kind of money and then take it away in a few months.

The bottom line, though, is that the internet is here to stay, so are web sites, and so is technology. It's my personal belief that people will forget how the bubble burst, and investments in tech will rise again some day in the not so distant future.

As for outrageous housing prices, amen, that's one reason I moved out of the bay area a year ago - there are other places to live. But I do understand your frustration from being forced from your home.

[This message has been edited by SysOpt (edited 06-19-2001).]

[Raist]

One thing that MadMatt really missed the point on and a lot of others have failed to realize as well is the trickle down effect this has had on the entire IT industry. I was working as a network admin and general pc tech with a midwest company that contracted other companies IT work out for them. I had just reentered the IT field 2 years before after taking some time off to start my own business and basically (find myself) during that transition into adulthood. I walked into my office early on a friday to call a user on the west coast to resolve a problem he called me with late Thursday as I was leaving the office. I connected to his PC and let him know he could hang up and when he saw a text message on his screen saying I'm finished he could go ahead and restart his machine as I would be done. Well, halfway through fixing his issue my account manager walks in and is like "uhh Tom, you're supposed to be in a meeting at National Headquarters this morning at 8." I told him noone had told me this and I hadn't received any email but I would head right over as soon as I finished with the users pc. I went over to our headquarters and 15 minutes later was walking out without a job. I was laid off because I fell into the "formula" of making to much money and not having senoirity. I was 25, married with 2 kids, and just got laid off. I spent the next 4 1/2 months unemployed looking for a job, drawing unemployment. During this time I drew unemployment because it was greater than any wage I could draw from a legitamate employer outside of the IT field. My point is this: The failure of the Dot Com sector has had many far reaching affects that affect a lot of smaller fish in the sea than the ones who were just out there to make millions. You risk seriously pissing off a lot of people with offhand comments like the ones in your initial post. I pesonally lost almost everything I owned, to include my family so don't go around commenting on things of which you have no experience with. Sorry you felt the brunt of this rant but I know ALOT of people in the IT industry who are not as lucky as me to have found work again and they've lost everything. I guess cmpassion and sympathy are virtues you should look into. Ranting Raist

[KilluH!]

I hear that. I was hit by the dot.bomb and had to move back in with my friggin parents, yeesh! Interview after interview and no friggin job. Kept missing out to all the other guys who had their certs. 7 months and I started to really get worried. Only cash I had was from my tax returns.

Got my A+ and then.. thank goodness, landed a decent tech job really close to home (15 min drive). Thank goodness because without this job I would have absolutely nothing.

I tell you, I try allot harder to be a really good worker now than i did before. Always on time, stays late, yada yada.


Good luck to all you cats struggling out there. Better get your certifications.

J

[MalcolmDean]

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. The IT industry has gone through these boom/bust cycles since at least the 60's (which I vaguely recall). This time, it's clearly the greed of the financial sector, who are either incompetent or saw it coming and decided to take us for the ride. In time, it will also be seen as a failure of vision by Americans in electing a retrograde blast-from-the-past administration which clearly can't find a wall plug.

[jimrc]

The saddest thing about the dot.com issue is that the so-called "dot.commers" are not really to blame. They were just experiencing a taste of success.

The problem lies in the economic infrastructure where several mis-informed economic talents go overboard on ideas that are not only un-proven but also somewhat half-baked. This caused much more money to flow than really had to to accomplish testing of the new marketing theories at hand.

The big problem that has really been caused is that the investment community who would have hopefully warmed up gradually to on-line business have instead recoiled in the opposite direction fully believing that all internet and information technologies are high risk.

We see this reflected in lower sales by intel, cisco and other hardware vendors.

So, thanks to all the hype, only the phone company and the electric company will be winning while we try to put the pieces back together in a more coherent way.

[zferenczy]

Dot-Com bust!

Interesting!

A lot of stock portfolio managers got greedy and invested into stock that (in their mind) had a good potential return. It’s a gamble, and everyone got in the bandwagon. Some companies made it some did not. This is the real business world and a lot of us got cut in it. I know a lot of people who lost their jobs or a lot of money through different investments. I don't think there is anyone to blame. We are all more or less greedy and therefore take risk.

Welcome to reality!

[AlleyCatNY]

<Thoughts and rant>
Not so long ago I've lived through this with the Airline industry: Going from making decent money and having great benefits, lots of travels, and a job so interesting and rewarding it defined me, to having - a spot in the line for the unemployment checks and no more 'identity' and not much outlook for a future. Since my hobby always was web related programming, I've decided to go into that field. My job now is kind of secure and I do make about twice the amount of money I made with the Airlines, but I don't take anything for granted anymore. I spend a lot of my extra time studying, go through book after book, course after course and am as dedicated as I can be. I believe that good programmers will always be needed no matter how low the IT tech stocks go.
MalcolmDean I agree with you and have a few things to add:
What brought down the IT industry is not those who create or manage new technologies. It's all the other 'business' related 'positions' who only came into this industry to grab as many quick bucks as they can. I'm talking about the "managers", "marketers", "financial analysts" , "business strategists" and so on - the pompous names continue. Once the IT industry is on it's knees these powers will just find another area to "manage" while the people who made all this possible, who wrote the programs and protocols and took the time and effort to bring all this into reality are paying the price with suffering.
MadMatt I understand your pain, the same thing happened to my 'hood in NY as well. But don't forget the one who reaised your rent was the landlord who got greedy and figured that by piggybacking on the IT industry success he will grab a lot more bucks for the same place which was your home for many years. You can only hope that when the dust clears some of the old values will still be standing and recognizable.
</Thoughts and rant>