Author: Matt

“Changing a legacy system is like changing a tire on a car that is moving 60 miles an hour.”

Edward Horowitz, head of Citicorp’s online banking efforts, offering a rationale for ripping out decades of investment in older technology to offer pure Internet banking to consumers, The New York Times, 5 October 1998

“People want hard-hitting information based right here. Most of our competitors are based in California, but stocks trade here.”

Jim Cramer, infamously goateed chairman of TheStreet.com, whose urge to hype New York City occasionally collides with the interests of his online brokerage advertisers, New Media News, 25 September 1998

“We’re living in a world now with a gigantic intercom system, like families have, or a giant security camera in a bank that’s always on.”

Jonathan Broder, former Washington bureau chief of Salon, on the global surveillance regime that the Internet has introduced, Wired News, 30 September 1998

“The original Internet was handed over to commercial interests — not that that was a bad thing. In fact, it worked too well…. We won’t give the network away this time.”

Terry Rogers, director of the Abilene project, an academe-sponsored next-generation Internet, on how he intends to avoid success, The Industry Standard, 29 September 1998

“I think it’s very difficult for a traditional bank to finance a company that is not cash-flow positive.”

Stacy Carlson, a branch director of Imperial Bank in northern Virginia, on the art of making loans to unprofitable startups, The Washington Post, 28 September 1998