RIP 2000

At 11:59PM on December 31, 1999 I realized (with horror) that Dick Clark's exploding Dorian Gray head and a live rockin' ringin' in the New Year performance by the Backstreet Boys would be the last two things I would ever see if Y2K lived up to its billing. Fortunately, I have a satellite dish and safely watched the year 2000 limp in an hour early. For many companies however, Y2K spelled RIP. Here's a final tribute to some of the products you won't see in Y2K + 1.

Modo
Billed as handheld PDA device for hip urbanites, the $99 Modo was supposed to wirelessly tell you where to eat, drink and pick up chicks in major metro areas of the US. Problem: hip urbanites already know where to go and the rest of us own Palm PDAs, which do the same thing with freeware. Plus, Palm plays in Peoria. RIP.




Virgin Internet Appliance
In an attempt to lure its brick and motor customers to its fledgling web site, Virgin gave away thousands of free Internet appliances ($200 value) with free Internet access. The catch: users had to spend at least 10 hours a month online watching a cheap Virgin scroll bar ad that followed you to every site on the web. The problem: It literally took ten hours just to log on the faulty, lamo machines. Bigger problem: Virgin tried to get you to return the appliance for a crappy refund nowhere near its value. Plus, now that Linux has been hacked onto the units, they make a great display device around the house. RIP.




ePods
Tablet style Internet Appliances that were going to be the first sold through infomercial. ePods never made it to Ron Popeill's doorstep. RIP.




Oracle NIC (New Internet Computer)
Sorry, it's not dead....yet.



Productopia
Killer new product web site. Burned through 22 million dollars in 8-months. Really! RIP.

Pets.com
Dog food delivered to your doorstep was web nirvana-- No way to make money though. RIP.

Acme Chad Company -- RIP.