dot-com period

The dot-com years refers to the period from approximately late 1998 to early 2000 when there was an explosion of web start-ups and venture funding for commercial hi-tech activity. It was fuelled by the increasing web user base, but for a period hype overtook the human and technical foundations leading, perhaps inevitably, to a major crash, 'the dot-com bubble'. The latter was triggerd by the flotation of lastminute.com -- which paradoxically is still a major interbet travel company. The share price of lastminute rose sharply after listing, but this was soon followed by an even sharper drop. Confidence in hi-tech companies was hit leading to a near shotdown of funding for hi-tech investments that lasted for several years.

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