How Internet Trading Began

Internet trading - how it all began...

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dorothy. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou...canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"

And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"

And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.

To prevent neighbouring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP).

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.

And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others." And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to be known.

He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."

And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators."

"YAHOO," said Abraham.

And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com. Abraham's cousin,

Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.

It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).

That is how it all began. And that's the truth. :-) 

Thanks to Chrissie Lightfoot of The Entrepreneur Lawyer for sharing this in her weekly email.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear

is fear itself.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke those words during one of his fireside chats given in the midst of the Great Depression over 80 years ago.  It's as true now as it was then.  Knowledge is not only power, it is freedom from fear.  Fear of the unknown keeps a lot of people from taking action that could improve their lives.  I subscribe to a service where people post questions about various aspects of the law.  I get dozens of emails a week with copies of the questions asked.  As I read the questions it seems to me that many, if not most, could be answered by a competent attorney in about 30 minutes or less, the time most bankruptcy attorneys offer for a free consultation.  So why aren't people taking advantage of these free consultations?

The answer is fear.  They are afraid of calling a lawyer.  So they troll the Internet where they might or might not get competent advice.  They ask friends, co-workers, anyone but the people who really have the answers.  If you have a legal question, call a lawyer.  Even if they charge a nominal fee, like $30 or $50, for a consultation, isn't it worth it to get advice tailored to your specific situation?  Look at it this way: if you had a broken leg would you ask your friends or someone at work, or go to the Internet for advice on how to set it?