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Dot-commers Back to the Dorm

securitas writes: "This is an interesting story about how many dot-com workers and CEOs left school, went broke, and are now back to their dorm rooms, studies, and keggers, having been through the modern equivalent of the Holland's tulip mania." Free reg. req. Bleah.

10 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. So what? by jedwards · · Score: 2, Funny


    Sorry, but so what?

    They were doing something, did something else for a while, and now they're doing the first thing again.

    There's nothing at all special about that.

  2. I did it backwards.... by Colz+Grigor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Damn.

    I returned to school at the peak of the market since I could finally afford to pay for that fifth, six, and seventh year.

    ::Colz Grigor

  3. Whoops, look out Hemos.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Looks like you actually managed to put in the "archive" part, so that people don't have to register to read it. Watch your back, doing a good thing is considered tabboo here ;>

  4. Your daily dose of surreality by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 4, Funny

    To get to a page where you have to fill out an annoying registration form before you can read the story, just replace "archive" with "www". Here's an example.

    (I guess i'll call this "karma anti-whoring")

  5. Re:Comfort of College.... by Mahonrimoriancumer · · Score: 2, Funny

    hot girls? I haven't seen any of them around my campus... Of course I go to an engineering school, so that may explain that.

    --
    So climate's changing. So what? It has always changed. The big news would be if it wasn't changing. - Dr. Philip Stone
  6. It's a viscious cycle by alewando · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whenever booms like these arise, it's a great opportunity for students to cast down the shackles of academia and strike it out on their own. For years, it was entirely possible for young people to forgo college careers altogether and give of themselves fully in the high-tech industry.

    But now that it's over and they're coming back to academia, the viscious cycle begins anew. These students, once they graduate, will have both classroom experience and real-world experience, and it'll simply raise the bar for everyone else. The choice for students arrived from outside the dotcom market will be between either taking time off and taking significant internships during their student years or simply go for more education (most will choose the latter). It'll be an upward spiral of higher education begetting better qualified workers begetting a need for higher education.

    That's why it's critical, now more than ever, that we abolish universal education. Darwinian sociology tells us that the best will lead no matter what their headstart, so we should do away with unnecessary artificial government intervention in the education markets. Starting from a young age, children should be given strong incentives to go into factory work or indentured servitude, thereby setting a sufficient hurdle that only the truly motivated will enter primary and higher education.

    The dotcom boom and bust was an important economic moment in history, but let's not let ourselves lose track of the bigger picture. Education is, one of the most important determining factors in people's quality of life, but we must not allow ourselves to overvalue its function or be irresponsible in its delivery.

    There will always be a place for young people to go instead of university. The sooner we pull out of this economic slump, the better for these people.

  7. Re:Comfort of College.... by krazo · · Score: 2, Funny

    >seeing hot girls again , instead of your greasy cubicle mates?
    >keggers instead of the watercooler?

    You obviously didn't read the article. Most of these people are going back to STANFORD. As John McEnroe once said "Nine out of ten girls in California are beautiful. The other one goes to Stanford."

    Trust me, I go back there in a week and a half. Damn the wireless startups. Remember when "I work at a dotcom" could get you dates?

  8. Interviewing Dotcommers by Gorobei · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's sad, but I've seen a lot of ex-dotcommers looking for jobs recently.

    The good ones just sit down and show their skills. We talk about a real job versus returning to school, etc.

    The bad ones explain that they were a CEO/CTO, whatever, and want an equivalent job at our "real" company. We try to keep to a straight face while we explain that, if they are hired, they will have the title of "ultra-junior hire," and will be reporting to a person that left school a year or two before them (but who actually put the effort into learning about a real business.)

    The real entrepeneurs aren't returning to school... they're getting decent jobs with good advancement possibilites right now. It's the poseurs that took a flier on cheap VC capital who are slinking back to an education on their parents' money.

  9. Re:The best comment on the dot-com collapse! by GigsVT · · Score: 3, Funny
    Also alot of laughs were had about what qualifies for instant filing in the old circular file. For example: no suit, TRASH CAN; visible tattos or piercing, TRASH IT; any sort of attitude, BYE BYE; no degree at all or incompleted degrees SEE-YA (yes even for IT positions); H1-B, sorry but upper management will not let us even look at the extra legal cost involved; wierd hair, THANK YOU HAVE A NICE DAY! You know how many folks out there have certification of one sort or another? Every single one who came by. Moved jobs around alot, more jobs then years of experience? NOPE not a chance in HELL!



    You just threw away the resume of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Wozniac, Linus Torvalds, Alan Cox, etc...

    Great move asshole. Suits and degrees don't give you skills.

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
  10. Re:Maybe if people just SPENT less... by cburley · · Score: 2, Funny
    Think about how much money some of those people could have in the bank, right now[...]I'd rather have that than a Porsche any day.

    Hey, some of us wish to reproduce.

    ;-)

    --
    Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful.