THE DOWNSIDE IS WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF SOCKS

“We see it as efficient investment. The sock puppet allows us to break through the clutter.”

Pets.com marketing veep John Hommeyer, on the pet-supply concern’s plan to spend millions advertising a sock puppet during the Superbowl, Variety.com, 2 December 1999

SO WE DID A DEAL WITH NETWORK SOLUTIONS

“It used to be that the senior people decided what it was that you needed to know. The information was metered to you. But the modern warfighter has to be able to craft his own information domain.”

Vice Admiral Arthur Cebrowski, on the U.S. Navy’s new “network-centric” strategy, Wired News, 1 December 1999

SCRATCH THAT WHOLE BEIGE BOX IDEA

“This is a product that was designed totally with the consumer and the Internet in mind. It really is a break from the past.”

Dell Computer chairman Michael Dell, coming curiously close to admitting he was doing something wrong before as he introduced Dell’s new WebPC, The New York Times, 1 December 1999