CONNECTING WITH COLLECTIONS
THE TICKER
Forbes ASAP : Magazine of the Dot-Com Era
By Sarah Poole
New technologies have historically resulted in corresponding booms and busts . Historical examples include bubbles in telegraphs and railroads . At the turn of the 21st century , though , it was the “ dot-coms .”
The Internet solidified its footprint in the modern home over the course of the 1990s . By the second half of the decade , home computer use was on the rise and the nation was becoming more interconnected than ever before . Taking advantage of timely low interest rates , pioneering entrepreneurs created new businesses with the hope of using this new platform to reach consumers . These dot-com start ups consisted of web services that offered information , digital content and retail services directly to customers , often earning additional revenue from advertising . Frenzied venture capitalists and speculators invested in dot-coms in droves , hoping to cash in on the businesses they envisioned becoming successful household names .
The dot-com market grew rapidly between 1995 – 2000 . The Nasdaq Composite index , which was dominated by technology companies ( 64 %), grew 800 % over that time period . It peaked on March 10 , 2000 at 5,132.52 and closed at 5,048.62 . Due to a confluence of factors including rising interest rates , overspending and losses by start-ups and global economic events , the market cooled quickly . By 2002 , the Nasdaq Composite dropped 78 %, hitting its low point of 1,114 on October 9 . Some companies , such as Amazon and Google , weathered the storm and remain leaders in the market to this day . Other giants of the time , such as Pets . com and its infamous sock puppet mascot , failed as quickly as they rose to fame .
One of the first of its kind , Forbes ASAP magazine was created in 1992 to cover the burgeoning Internet industry . This issue from the Museum ’ s collection , dated May 29 , 2000 , offers scathing commentary on the declining state of dot-com investing . It uses a satirical cartoon of Bart Simpson from the hit TV show The Simpsons , leaning on stacks of money from his website , Bucks2Bart . com . The character Mr . Burns can be seen hauling a bag of his money , presumably to invest in the startup . The caption mocks , “ Cool Investment , Dude !” above headlines about “ Venture Capital in Crisis .”
Like the industry it reported on , Forbes ASAP also saw a decline in special interest reporting on the business of the Internet . The Forbes family announced on October 3 , 2002 that it would cease publishing the magazine , stating , “ There is no market for a dedicated new economy publication .” The novelty of a new industry had worn away , but through hindsight we know that dot-coms were here to stay .
www . MoAF . org | Summer 2023 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 7