Item number: C140

Year: AD 1999

Material: Paper

Size: 26.5 x 20.0 cm

Provenance: 美國私人收藏 2024

This is a November AD 1999 issue of the magazine “YAHOO! INTERNET LIFE,” a publication established by the renowned American media company Ziff Davis. Published from AD 1996 to AD 2002, the magazine primarily explored the internet boom and its accompanying pop culture phenomena during the 1990s and the turn of the millennium.

The magazine’s editor, Barry Golson, was a former executive editor of the American adult magazine Playboy, which influenced YAHOO! INTERNET LIFE’s style to include noticeable adult themes and sexual undertones. For example, the cover of this issue features Canadian model and actress Estella Warren, dressed minimally to exude allure, with a black cursor tattoo on her right shoulder. Accompanying this visual is the provocative tagline: “Without the Net this model would be naked…”, a suggestive hook designed to grab readers’ attention while introducing the featured topic: “WEB FASHION ’99.”

The magazine includes multiple photographs featuring Estella Warren as the model, showcasing her as a central figure for its visual theme. Additionally, it contains an advertisement and specifications for Apple’s then-upcoming Power Mac G4 Cube, a personal computer slated for release in the year AD 2000.

Additionally, on page 132, the magazine features an advertisement for “beenz,” an early pioneer in virtual currency. The advertisement draws upon Aesop’s fable “The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs” as its central metaphor. It suggests that while the allure of golden eggs is undeniable, owning the goose that produces them offers a far more sustainable source of wealth. Beenz is thus likened to this metaphorical goose, representing an ongoing opportunity for generating value.

The accompanying text provides an overview of how beenz can be collected and utilised. It explains that users can accumulate beenz for free by visiting various websites and later redeem them for desired goods. The advertisement emphasises the simplicity and practicality of this process, presenting it as a superior alternative to the elusive pursuit of mythical golden eggs.

Beenz, often regarded as the first widely recognised form of virtual currency, was introduced by British entrepreneur Charles Cohen in March AD 2000, during the height of the dot-com bubble. Leveraging the domain beenz.com, Cohen launched this innovative currency in the United States. Together with his associates, he secured $86 million in funding from prominent venture capital firms, including SoftBank, Apax Partners, Vivendi, and Oracle. This substantial investment enabled the rapid establishment of 13 offices worldwide within a short period.

The operational model of beenz involved partnering with websites to distribute a designated amount of virtual currency. Visitors to these participating websites could collect beenz at no cost and subsequently use them for purchases on the same platforms. However, just eight months after its launch, the rapid expansion of beenz began to face significant challenges. The service struggled to maintain its momentum due to its accelerated growth and the emergence of competitors like Amazon and Visa, which introduced more straightforward and widely accepted online payment systems using credit cards.

Ultimately, on August 26, AD 2001, beenz and its parent company declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. The collapse of beenz serves as a quintessential example of the unsustainable growth and volatility that characterised the dot-com bubble era.

The dot-com bubble, which occurred during the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium, was characterised by a surge in investment surrounding emerging internet technologies and concepts as the internet became increasingly mainstream. This period saw numerous speculative investments, many of which ultimately ended in failure. However, some of the companies that emerged during this time—such as Google, PayPal, and Amazon—have since become household names and global industry leaders, illustrating the lasting impact of the era despite the financial turmoil it caused.

物件編號: C140

年代: 公元 1999 年

材質: 紙

尺寸: 26.5 x 20.0 cm

來源: Private Collector, USA, 2024

這是一本公元1999年11月號的《YAHOO! INTERNET LIFE》(雅虎網路生活) 雜誌，雜誌由美國的老牌媒體公司「Ziff Davis」創立，其發行時間為公元1996至2002年，主要探討上世紀90年代和千禧年之際的網路熱潮流行文化。

雜誌負責人貝瑞·高爾森為美國成人雜誌《花花公子》的前執行編輯，因此雜誌風格帶有明顯的成人色彩或性暗示。例如這一期雜誌封面找到加拿大女模兼演員艾斯特雅·華倫，以些許清涼的穿著和右肩有一個黑色游標紋身，搭配左邊的文字「Without the Net this model would be naked…」(沒有了網路這個模特兒就會變裸體…) 用性暗示吸引讀者和帶出「WEB FASHION ‘99」(網路時尚 1999) 主題。雜誌有多張以艾斯特雅·華倫為模特兒的照片，尚有蘋果公司準備在公元2000年上市的最新麥金塔個人電腦「Power Mac G4 Cube」的廣告和規格表。

除此之外，雜誌第132頁還有虛擬貨幣的先驅「beenz」(紅豆錢) 廣告。這個廣告以伊索寓言《下金蛋的鵝》為出發，比喻金蛋固然誘人但何不掌握能下金蛋的母鵝，以此宣傳紅豆錢就像能下金蛋的鵝能帶來源源不絕的財富。並且在下方的文案大致介紹紅豆錢的收集和使用方法，即拜訪不同的網站就能免費蒐集紅豆錢，並且還能用紅豆錢購買想要的東西，比起四處尋找傳說的金蛋更為簡單。

紅豆錢是英國人查理斯·科恩在公元2000年3月，即網路泡沫的狂飆之際，於美國以其創辦的「beenz.com」(紅豆網) 網域，推出世界上第一種具有知名度的虛擬貨幣「紅豆錢」。科恩和友人設法從軟銀、安佰深集團、威望迪和甲骨文等知名創投公司募得8600萬美金投入創業，在短時間之內於全球設立13個據點。紅豆錢的運作邏輯為科恩會在簽約的網站釋放一定數量的虛擬貨幣，供網站的瀏覽者得以無償收集後，再向簽約的網站以紅豆錢進行消費。然而在短短8個月後，紅豆錢就因為業務拓展過快，以及競爭對手亞馬遜和Visa推出更為直觀的線上信用卡付款而受到衝擊。最終在公元2001 年 8 月 26 日，紅豆網和紅豆錢宣告停止服務和破產，成為網路泡沫時代的一個典型案例。

網路泡沫為上世紀90年代和千禧年之際，隨著網路這項科技逐漸普及化，出現許多圍繞著相關技術和概念的投資熱潮，雖然多數的投資最終以失敗收場。但是現今世人耳熟能詳的跨國公司，諸如Google、Paypal和亞馬遜就是這段時期的產物。