Why was the Internet created?
- To survive an atomic attack
- To boost the Dow over 10,000
- To give you another reason to drop out of school
- To give employers a way to bid out your job to a grade-schooler in Pakistan
No matter what your answer NetSlaves (tm) is a must-read for
anyone who is tired of the media hype and market frenzy surrounding
the Internet industry. Patterned after Studs Terkel's classic
"Working," NetSlaves focuses on the people caught on the front lines
of the "digital revolution" - the men and women who put in 90-hour
weeks in electronic sweatshops and whose glorious stock options more
often turn into pink slips than IPO gold.
In preparing the book, authors and Internet vets Bill
Lessard and Steve Baldwin conducted dozens of interviews with
individuals from across the vast spectrum of technology jobs - from
high to low stations - and organized them into a "New Media Caste
System." Foregoing dry technical terms, the System substitutes
traditional jobs for Internet job descriptions. Consequently, the
book is accessible to the average reader, and will entertain even
the most jaded industry insider.
For instance:
- Itinerant Web freelancers are "Cab Drivers"
- Desktop support drones are "Garbagemen"
- Internet CEO's are "Robber Barons"
NetSlaves was originally launched in December 1998 as an
electronic tool of discontent that receives over 500,000 visitors
each week. It has been covered by TIME MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES,
CNBC, FAST COMPANY, FORBES, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, CRAIN'S, THE
VILLAGE VOICE, THE NY POST, LA WEEKLY, SEATTLE WEEKLY, THE LONDON
TIMES and The UTNE READER. What's more, NetSlaves has broken all
language barriers, with mentions appearing in German, French,
Russian, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Catalan, Dutch, Norwegian and
Finnish.
Among its various
accolades, some of the most glowing include:
"The ultimate corrective to Internet IPO Mania." -
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"Finally, a true tell-all about working on the Web." -
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD
"It may sound grim, but Bill and Steve weave plenty of
black humor into their therapeutic paean." - SEATTLE WEEKLY
What this means in terms of sales potential is that
NetSlaves will appeal to the 327 million people globally who now use
the Web (Source: CyberAtlas),
the millions more who work on it and the countless investors who
throw their money at the latest "dot.com."
Part expose, part satire and due-diligence tool, NetSlaves
has all the earmarks of both a highly successful book and full-on
media property.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bill Lessard / Steve Baldwin
+1 (914) 476-6089
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Bill Lessard
Bill Lessard is a poster boy for "NetSlavery". Since 1992, he
has worked in various positions for Prodigy, Time Warner's
Pathfinder and numerous failed startups. Currently unemployed, Bill
seeks revenge on everyone who has screwed him over and in so doing,
give a voice to the unrecognized people who really "work the Web",
as opposed to the well-publicized few who simply take credit for it.
Bill is also motivated by greed and the desire for fame, but he
would never admit it. |  |
Steve Baldwin
Steve Baldwin started out in the computer industry at
Ziff-Davis's doomed "PC Sources" magazine in 1991 and spent years
moving tons of product data into the gritty American mail-order channel.
He's worked professionally as a hardware editor, online sysop,
webmaster, editor and games programmer. These days, when he's not
freelancing his talents to the highest (lowest?) bidder, he divides
his time between "NetSlaves" and his acclaimed "Ghost Sites of the Web". |  |
Kevin Hemenway
Kevin Hemenway used to quietly wile away his time on
Disobey, his own creation, hellbent
to make the chattering in his head stop. Then he made the mistake of
introducing himself to Steve Baldwin and Ghost Sites. Steve, in
turn, decided to introduce Bill Lessard and NetSlaves to Kevin and
Disobey. Everything fell into place. Now locked in front of his own
computer, he wonders if he is a NetSlave of his own
creation. |  |
Steve Gilliard
Steve is the NetSlaves Media Operative. He begins his day with
the Washington Post and ends it with Salon, which either leaves him
laughing or in a state of total depression. When he's not trolling
for information or the driving force behind "lively"
conversations on the NetSlaves discussion list, Steve writes for
Websites, sometimes even for money. Steve is also a big fan of Jerry
Springer, Howard Stern and other refined entertainment. |  |
Bitch Cake
Having survived the French Revolution-esque terror of an
interactive start-up in a traditional agency, Bitch Cake slinks
through her Anytown USA, languishing over the Evilness of The Suits
and their inability to realize that she is a major threat to their
silly careers. When she is not planning the demise of anyone born
before 1965, or smacking her little Generation Y assistant, Bitch
Cake enjoys men with large Rolexes, collecting antique weed-wackers
and drinking champagne. She hopes one day that the creator of the
PowerPuff Girls will immortalize her as the 4th Super
Chick. |  |
Mirsky
Mirsky knows how dangerous the net can be, which is why he
refuses to reveal his first name. A web content pioneer since 1995,
that's also how long he's been looking for work. His famed site,
"Mirsky's Worst of the Web" ridiculed other peoples' web sites,
including that of the Amish (they can take it, they don't actually
come online). But Mirsky needed money and began working for an
interactive ad agency, forced to make ad banners to convince people
to eat Pringles. He quit. Today, he crank calls VCs. In his spare
time, he makes various flavors of instant pudding and has founded
mirskt.com, a state-of-the-art,
e-commerce powerhouse that's changing the role of t-shirts online.
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Splat
We're not quite sure who Splat is, but we do know a few things:
he's on his fifth Netslave job in the last five years; he attributes
his insomnia, lack of proper eating habits, tendencies to go postal
after a Los Angeles Kings loss, and his penchant for driving fast
while stoned to the industry; and that he never, ever forgets that
no matter how bad his Netslave job is, it's better than working at
the New Mexico Department of Transportation. You can also find his
other pearls of wisdom at http://www.planetpat.com/.
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Toby Boardman
Toby Boardman is a trench warfare expert (desktop support
technician) who was trained in the ways of cannon fodder by Big Blue
itself. He is now semi-retired due to injury and consoles himself by
ridding the world of dot.com startups. He does this by attending
industry parties with free booze and drinking millions of dollars
worth of cheap champagne. How else do you think these things go
belly up over night?
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