in 2002-03 when they went all out with their TV
blitz advertising for the holiday season
at that time, the term "ebay" was being
introduced as an internet lexicon because of the
phenomenon of it's huge growth.
But just like the dot-com bust, what the
marketing later had trouble with was not
understanding that just because the internet grew
1000% in just a few short years, did not mean and
could not mean (by simple mathematics) that it
could continue such an expansion.
To be more direct on that issue: in 1992 less
than 5% of the US households had computers. By
2002 close to 75% of all US households had
computers. What the equation didn't take into
account was that the remaining 25% were either
too poor to own a computer, too old to be
interested in a computer or just not interested
in a computer and so growth for the future was
therefore severely limited, so the belief that
the internet & ebay would continue to grow was a
fallacy as by 2003, they had almost reached the
epoch of membership which has since 2005 fallen
off in direct relation to non-participation by millions of buyers
since that point, fleabay has deteriorated steadily
Rich
At 10:54 AM 1/14/2009, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
I think almost all of us can agree that eBay has
clearly "jumped the shark"*. But exactly WHEN do
you think this happened? When did eBay make the
move that changed it from a company with a
bright future, and started it on its current
downhill path? Of course, there is no one
"right" answer, but I have my own opinion, which
I will gladly share once some of you voice your opinions.
When do YOU think was the moment when eBay "jumped the shark"?
Bruce
*N.B. According to Wikipedia, the phrase "jump
the shark" refers to a scene in a three-part
episode of the American TV series,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days>Happy
Days, first broadcast on
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_20>September
20, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977>1977. In
the third of the three parts of the "Hollywood"
episode, Fonzie
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Winkler>Henry
Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his trademark
leather jacket, jumps over a penned-in
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark>shark while
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_skiing>water skiing.
Even before "jumping the shark" was employed as
a pop culture term, the episode in question was
cited many times as an example of what can
happen to otherwise high-quality shows when they
stay on the air too long in the face of waning
interest—or when they simply cease to maintain
quality standards for writing or acting,
resorting to cheap sensationalism etc. The
infamous scene was seen by many as betraying
Happy Days' 1950s setting (as well as reversing
its earlier character-developments, as noted
above) by cashing in on the 1970s fads of
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evel_Knievel>Evel
Knievel<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark#cite_note-0>[1]
and
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film)>Jaws.
Producer
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Marshall>Garry
Marshall later admitted that he knew the show
had lost something as the crew prepared to shoot
the scene. As Marshall pointed out in the
reunion special that aired on
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_3>February
3, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005>2005,
however, Happy Days went on to produce
approximately 100 more episodes after the
"jumping the shark" episode. During the same
special, in response to an audience member's
question, Marshall introduced the notorious clip
and noted how the show had inspired the term.
The first public
use<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark#cite_note-1>[2]
of the phrase as a direct metaphor is reported
to have been on
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_24>December
24, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997>1997,
when the
<http://www.jumptheshark.com/>jumptheshark.com
website was launched by
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Hein>Jonathan
M. Hein. According to the site, the phrase was
first coined by Hein's college roommate, Sean J.
Connolly, in 1985. The term first appeared in
print in the
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_9>April 9,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998>1998,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times>Los
Angeles Times Calendar Weekend section.
The phrase has been used more recently outside
the realm of popular culture, representing
anything that has reached its peak and has
declined in quality. If one thinks a stock or a
sports team or a subcultural phenomenon has
reached its peak, for example, one can say that
it has "jumped the shark." The phrase can also
be specifically, the phrase also refers to a
particular event that demonstrates this decline
beyond all doubt, such as whenever an
entertainment company or business makes a grave
mistake, and therefore rapidly loses ratings or
fans, becomes bankrupt or is sold.
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