Computer.com was a short-lived dot-com company founded in 1999. After spending half of its $7 million in venture capital on ads during Super Bowl XXXIV, it was sold to Office Depot in 2000.[1] It is significant as a case study for business historians and others interested in the dot-com bubble.
Prior to 1999, the domain computer.com was owned by Gary Kremen, who sold it for $500,000.[2][3] In 1999, Mike Ford and Mike "Zappy" Zapolin founded Computer.com as a general-purpose website to teach people about various aspects of computing.[1] After raising $7 million in venture capital,[note 1] Computer.com partnered with an advertising agency to create three Super Bowl advertisements six weeks before the game started.[1] Initially, they were dismayed, as due to their late entry, their time slot was located at the end of the game, at the two-minute warning. However, thanks to the closely contested game, the advertisement became one of the highest-rated of all time.[1]
After Super Bowl XXXIV, the company secured "an additional $2 million in a second round of funding."[4] In late 2000, the company was sold to Office Depot.
It is unclear whether Computer.com ever turned a profit or delivered any kind of actual service to consumers. Viewers visiting the site in response to the Super Bowl commercial would have found only a small dictionary of terms such as "MP3" and links to buy basic home computer products from other companies, mostly outpost.com.[5] Computer.com became a notorious example of the extreme of the "dot-com bubble," in that it appeared to have gone through its entire lifecycle, including the $7 million Super Bowl ad, without ever articulating what it offered as a company or making a sale of any kind.[6]
Prior to March 30, 2024 the domain was being used as a front end for a supposedly modified version of ChatGPT similar to Bing Chat.
As of March 30, 2024, the domain is currently being used as a cloud AI infrastructure platform.
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