SO THAT’S WHAT “I-S-P” STANDS FOR

“This is a two-horse race. I think there will be some people wetting their pants in Virginia. Frankly, I’m so excited I may wet mine.”

MindSpring president Mike McQuary, discussing the liquid assets his company offered in a merger with Internet-service rival EarthLink to combat America Online, ZDNN, 23 September 1999

YOUR PANTS ARE SO IN BETA

“The Web works well for standardized products, but with fashion you reinvent the product every six months.”

Hugo Boss PR chief Godo Kraemer, who apparently hasn’t stayed au courant about Internet-time-driven product upgrade cycles, The New York Times, 22 September 1999

HIS MASTER’S VOICE

“Phones are no longer being viewed as a voice device. An infocentric appliance is where I’d like to take them.”

Bellsouth cell-phone technologist Stephen Blust, who’s intent on taking the “phone” out of “telephones,” San Jose Mercury News, 20 September 1999

DISTANCE FAMILY VALUES

“Tired: virtual communities; wired: distance families.”

Patrick Naughton, Java coinventor and former Go Network executive who was charged Thursday with allegedly crossing state lines with the intent to solicit sex from a minor, Wired magazine, August 1999

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

“I hope you’d agree that Amiga was never about a box. It was never about an operating system either. … At its heart, Amiga was simply about a better way.”

Tom Schmidt, president of Gateway subsidiary Amiga, on plans to produce a computer but skip over those pesky hardware and software bits, News.com, 17 September 1999