Cook Asks: What's the Worst Idea in Seattle High-Tech History?

John Cook, on his Venture Blog, is chumming for comments -- or rather, asking a good, thought-provoking question:

Here's what I would like to know: What is the worst idea in Seattle high-tech history?

Some may claim Microsoft Bob, others might say online errand service MyLackey.com.

There's got to be plenty more out there. What do you think?

Readers have suggested Kozmo, Mercata, Vulcan's FlipStart, and the late lamented Homegrocer.com.

Seattlest vaguely remembers some small, plucky web site that was basically a Kozmo.com exclusive to espresso drinks. If you were in downtown Seattle, you placed your order through the site and they'd bring you a latte. We're hoping no one lost major cash on that one -- though as we recall, the site design was on the rinky-dink side, so probably not -- but not a good idea. We can't for the life of us remember the name. Anyone know what we're talking about -- or have another nomination?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By James in News on August 3, 2006 3:15 PM

Comments [rss]

James Callan

Um, I didn't nominate FlipStart. I never heard of it before.

The guy on Cook's blog who did nominate it said this:
How about Vulcan thinking they could actually build a product internally (FlipStart) and then floundering around for years only to be beaten to market by many others like OQO and then Microsoft's UMPC OEMs?

samiam

Why would you nominate FlipStart? What is "bad" about a shirt pocket size PC that has decent battery life, a full complement of alphanumeric keys and runs full Windows XP, instead of an even more crippled version of what is itself a less than ideal OS? If you want to see a truly "bad idea", albeit a fairly successful one, carefully examine the ergonomics of a Blackberry. Maybe this is just an exercise in picking on those who are already "down"? If so, you still have kicked the wrong "corpse". The FlipStart effort certainly looks dormant from the outside at this moment, but nothing that still has Paul Allen's money behind it can be said to be dead. I'm still rooting for this device to become a market reality, and I wouldn't place the odds at less than 45-55 against...