Dotcoms Gone Bust 2001
Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126
Produced by Journeyman Pictures
Director n/a
VHS, color, 23 min.
Adult
American Studies, Business, Computer Industry
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Michael J. Coffta, Business Librarian, Bloomsburg University of PennsylvaniaThis film would leave almost any viewer feeling unfulfilled. Dotcoms Gone Bust, after beginning with some shaky camerawork and a bleeped-out explicative, poses some interesting questions about the tech meltdown in 2000, but never follows through with substantial answers to the questions. It poses the question, “Was it (the dotcom meltdown) a scam all along?” An intelligent question, but the film does not follow through with any sizeable treatment of the question. The film mentions liquidity as a common shortcoming for dotcoms, but then goes no further.
This film would certainly leave those with a business background hungry. There are a few episodes from the lives of former dotcom professionals. These episodes provide insights into the thoughts and promises of the tech start ups, but, in the end, watching a man who broadcasts his everyday life over the Internet is not very enlightening.
In all fairness, this film is a sequel to The Internet Money Machine. Dotcoms Gone Bust, however, does not stand well on its own. I would only recommend this film to someone who wants anecdotal evidence of the frivolity of the “irrational exuberance” of the late nineties tech boom.