Whenever they lost the balance between greed or desire for profit and
practices which actually served their customers' needs.
Lately it appears they're in desperation mode, trying to justify
their dopey changes by further falling down the proverbial slippery
slope with 'new and improved' stupid moves.
Seems like Ebay is the new AOL (pronounce as you see fit).
Patrick
On Jan 14, 2009, at 11:14 AM, Richard Halegua Comic Art wrote:
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,
Happy Days, first broadcast on September 20, 1977 . In the third
of the three parts of the "Hollywood" episode, Fonzie ( Henry
Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket,
jumps over a penned-in shark while 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 Evel Knievel [1] and Jaws.
Producer 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 February
3, 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 [2] of the phrase as a direct metaphor is
reported to have been on December 24, 1997 , when the
jumptheshark.com website was launched by 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 April 9, 1998 , 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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