The Wired World

Today the Internet is already a mature medium, despite its newcomer status. It is certainly the technology area with the most significant and explosive growth ever. In 1998 and 1999, the Internet’s economic impact on the U.S. economy was clearly proven just by the amount of venture capital invested in Internet companies and by the number of successful Internet company IPOs launched. By early 1999, Internet IPOs had dominated the stock market, creating another round of young bil4 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING lionaires, not unlike the software boom decades earlier. By late 1999, it was the dot-coms that moved “offline,” dominating the airwaves, feverishly snapping up television time, and grabbing national magazine and newspaper space to launch their fledgling brands. By 2000, the success of the dot-coms had started to dwindle. Many merged and many more failed, but not before the Internet had permanently become part of the fabric of American business.