Book dossier

Bamboozled at the Revolution

by John Motavalli

"The tale of Old Media's misadventures in cyberspace is the story of one of the great business follies of the twentieth century, and one whose repercussions will be felt for years to come. In Bamboozled at the Revolution, John Motavalli, a media reporter who was on the front lines of this disaster from its earliest days, gives an account of this remarkable period in all its madness, confusion, desperation, hubris, drama, and sheer absurdity. Central to the book is his account of Time Warner, blessed with a huge catalogue of successful magazines, a flourishing cable business, and powerful movie and music interests. But its leader, Jerry Levin, was a technophile with a Vision, and he was determined to lead his company to stand astride the Internet age just as forcefully as it had dominated the age of print. Learning little from a cable debacle called Full Service Network, Levin sped ahead with Pathfinder, Time Inc.'s ill-conceived web site that promised everything but delivered practically nothing of value. When, in January 2000, Time announced that it was "merging" with AOL, most observers recognized that it was a virtual surrender - the almost inevitable culmination of years of bad business decisions." "Bamboozled at the Revolution also looks at many other companies that were led astray by the siren song of the Web and, through interviews with leading players in the field, reconstructs the heady and often ludicrous rush online. From Rupert Murdoch's stillborn Delphi to Hollywood stars eager to be in the digital vanguard to Michael Eisner's Disney making one of its rare expensive misjudgments, the book is an entertaining and frequently shocking look at irrational exuberance at its most colorful."--Jacket.