A Day in the Life

Internet: the novelty has faded, the limits became known, and the fun is over

The HTML Goodies site is dead -- well, not exactly. The original founder and webmaster of the site has stepped aside, and a new face has taken over both the site and its related newsletter. While the changing of the guard at HTML Goodies is, in the large scheme of things, merely a drop in the ocean of sites affected by the tidal wave of dot-com failures and web restructuring, it is nevertheless significant in that it provides a case in point of how such failures have more to do with than just the misplaced energies and delusional fantasies of Gates wannabes.

The HTML Goodies site -- or shall I say now, the original HTML Goodies site -- was set up over four years ago by one Joe Burns in the U.S. In a nutshell, the site was geared to offering tutorials on basic web development and design, including forays into the worlds of javascript, java, and DHTML. There was also a newsletter, Goodies to Go, which was more or less a weekly personal commentary for "weekend silicon warriors" about what was happening in the vast realms of "cyberspace" -- or at least certain portions of it.

Both the site and newsletter content was produced in a typical, American digerati sort of way, and no doubt was more inclined with the "free-market" approach to Internet-related issues and web development. Even so, much of it was informative to novice and intermediate users, and certain blatant abuses -- especially aggressive advertising - was appropriately dealt with.

In addition to the world of HTML, a sneak preview into the world of e-commerce was offered. On September 1, 2000, Joe Burns' wife started an e-business called StreetArtist.com. Despite the obvious downturn in the economy by this time, the enthusiasm and optimism for wired capitalism was still high, so much so that a journal of their year-long experience was put on the Goodies site.

Reading through all this material in retrospect, one gains a valuable microcosmic insight into the rise and fall of the Internet bubble of the late 1990s. The first sign of trouble for Goodies came just after Christmas of 2000. Earthweb, which was the host of HTML Goodies, sold off many of its sites and newsletters in a large financial deal with Internet.com. As with other enterprises in the real world, this merely represented the first stage of corporate restructuring: consolidation.

By this time, the tsunami which heralded the tech-wreck had already passed, and successive waves of failures and downsizing continued unabated. At this point, it was foolhardy to believe that anyone could be immune from what was happening. Still, of those who had not yet drowned, but clinged precariously to bits and pieces in order to stay afloat, many permitted themselves the illusion that the final shakeout had occurred, and that in the end it was all for the best.

Joe Burns at HTML Goodies was no exception to this: he related in his newsletter (Goodies to Go, Number 115, January 29, 2001), that "after discussions between my representative the new owners, it seem that things will stay pretty much the same in regards to the site." Indeed, he painted the new situation with rose-colored brushes which made it appear that consolidation at HTML Goodies was really a good thing. Hence, he proudly announced that he would continue to be the main content provider for the site and that he was now in charge of all postings and updates. In addition to this, the site was designed to allow for a much more rigid posting schedule and user-submitted tutorials would be accepted.

Along with efficiency, a touch of professionalism was also added to the picture. Thus, a copy editor was hired to read the entire site for typos and/or misspellings. Someone was also hired to read through the site and look for out-of-date or incorrect information. With these and other like changes, Joe Burns faced the future with positive determination, declaring that "with the sale and my new responsibilities, I intend to polish up the site, update it weekly, and keep it up to date."

Unfortunately, this euphoria didn't last a year, and like all those left afloat who could no longer tread water, they drowned in bitter disappointment. This could be clearly discerned in the last few newsletters written by Joe Burns prior to his departure. There was no fanfare, no indication was offered as to what people could expect from the new HTML Goodies site and Goodies to Go newsletter -- not even whether or not the tutorials and newsletter would continue or be simply frozen in time. His message was quite straightforward: "I'll not write any more tutorials for the site. From here on out it'll be in the hands of Internet.com to do with as they please."

We now know, of course, that both the tutorials and newsletter will continue, albeit in a different way. They have been taken over by Curtis Dicken, who has apparently brought a more professional and polished tone to the site. Among some the improvements he promises, the newsletter will be split into four clear and distinct sections: an editorial, a quiz, question and answers, and news. As to the departure of Joe Burns, Curtis Dickens simply writes: "I would like to wish Joe all the best in his retirement and I hope this new year brings him great joy."

The changing of the guard at HTML Goodies illuminates one aspect to the demise of the dot-coms not acknowledged, but touched upon by Joe Burns as he left the stage: that is, the fun is over. Aside from the lofty ideals, hefty promises, and gullible cash, what had fuelled the Internet bubble was the fun and excitement of simply creating something out of nothing. For many, if not most, computers and the web were like toys, and people didn't mind working away like digital slaves because of the adrenaline rush associated with using something new and seemingly limitless. Yet, when the novelty had faded and the limits became known, the atmosphere had changed. The element of play was suddenly gone; using the Internet now meant work. In some cases, it meant a lot more work (and less security) than in the old world of yesterday.

As for the e-commerce venture set up by the Burns couple, that too had folded and is now a part of history. Although Joe Burns is adamant that the presidential election was responsible for the demise of StreetArtist.com, referring to tracking charts in order to prove his point, what he failed to explain is why the business was unable to sustain itself after only two months of political wrangling.

The story of what happened to Joe Burns and HTML Goodies, as with so many other people and sites, now belongs to the huge and ever-growing archive of Internet history. And like with so many stories of the past, there is a fear that the subtle lessons to be learned from all this will somehow be forgotten and buried by time.

But we have no need to worry, for all is not lost. One advantage of web history is that the past can be brought to the present in its entirety (more or less). For example, Brewster Kahle's The Internet Archive Wayback Machine contains a record of "the way the Web used to be", enabling you to search, "100 terabytes and 10 billion web pages archived from 1996 to the present," complete with working links. It also includes a "Web Pioneers" section. Although not perfect, it does provide a peek into the past. Even so, for those who had not lived through those years, it may be hard to understand what all the fuss or fun was about, especially when you see how simple and straightforward the web used to be.