The reality of the Internet Technology field slump is in our laps, like a brooding baby. The industry plummeted from favorite son to banished boy, as funding dried up and sent many companies, fledgling and veteran alike, offline for good. Even those that seemed destined for stardom came tumbling down, leaving the lengths of unemployment lines longer than they've been in years, and top level executives moving into "smaller places." Big paydays did more than shrink, they shriveled up and disappeared. In my opinion, it happened because too many people got greedy. For quite some time the almighty dollar had people acting crazy, like there was a money tree somewhere growing as much as was needed for as many fancy cars and billion dollar estates as the fearless leaders decided they had to have. During the heyday you'd read every day about this or that multimillion-dollar contract. The endless flow of funding was phenomenal. I always wondered how they pulled it off. Where was all of that money coming from? It still boggles my mind, but all of that was before the bottom fell out. 
As I sit here in my home office cranking out websites, stories, photos, and graphics, from the same chair I sat in when I started with back in 1996, I have no aspirations of being a multimillionaire. I live in a home I paid $40,000 for in 1985. I'm driving the same 1990 GMC minivan I bought new. Health insurance is a luxury I possessed as a corporate slave, but one I had to let go as a self-employed entrepreneur. An extravagant lifestyle is not on my wish list. The best I can hope for is to live in a place on this earth where people are nice to each other, care about each other, and will do what they can to help each other out. I already have that. What more could I want?There was a time when people had a tendency to think if you were working in the IT industry you had it made. You were destined for fame and fortune beyond your wildest dreams. In some cases this was, and still is, true. These days, however, the bulk of the boasting "big boys" and their even bigger budgets is dust in the wind, as elusive as the fallen virtual worlds they worked to create. The fact is you don't need a big corporation with deep pockets to get the word out to the masses on the Internet. All you need is a computer, phone line, and ftp program. A shoestring budget works well for me. It's all I've ever had. When I saved the title graphic for this story I realized my abbreviation spelled realityofit. The reality of it is that people have not stopped using the Internet, far from it. It has become a stalwart partner in making information on countless subjects available to anyone, anywhere in the world with a computer and a telephone line. This won't change unless the world ends. Even then, I'll probably still be looking around to see if I can find a computer anywhere. After all, someone will need to inform the masses about this latest development... Update: In August of 2003 UniqueOrn Enterprises purchased a new chair. Computer Stuff | Downtown Carrboro Map | Events | Prices | Restaurants | UniqueOrn Enterprises 
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