Month: June 1999

“We didn’t have any interest in the business side. You know, the marketing things and the things that the guys that wear the suits and the ties figure out. We don’t care about that.”

Slashdot founder Rob Malda, explaining why he sold his news-for-nerds site to little-known Internet concern Andover.net, Wired News, 29 June 1999

“We aren’t techies or bankers. We’re ink-stained wretches. Then the Internet came along…. We’ve been able to keep Salon alive and independent. But you don’t read much about that.”

Salon.com editor-in-chief David Talbot, whose definition of independence apparently includes answering to a board dominated by a handful of venture capital backers, San Francisco Examiner, 27 June 1999

“People take a real leap of faith when they come to a Web site. You don’t have the face-to-face contact you get in a store, but people still feel like they have a relationship with you, and it’s more intimate than it would be with a sales clerk.”

Pets.com CEO Juie Wainwright, comparing the intimate skills of e-commerce Web studs to bricks-and-mortar drones, ZDNN, 25 June 1999

“There are nutty judges in the country to start with. Let’s start with that premise.”

Microsoft chief financial officer Greg Maffei, trying to win friends and influence jurists in his company’s multiple, ongoing legal battles, Seattle Times, 24 June 1999

“The idea that we’re going to go into the 21st century hauling our most valuable documents and information around in plastic boxes is crazy. The proper place for important data is in a mountain somewhere with guys in white coats taking care of it.”

Gilder Group analyst Spencer Reiss, pontificating from his bunker in the hills as he waits for the nice men in white coats to come check up on him, News.com, 24 June 1999