Schull and Riding The Bullet

Bennet Loudon has an interesting article about Jon Schull, the inventor of softlock. The company went under, but Schull's technology was used to distribute Stephen King's ebook, Riding the Bullet. While the internet was yet young, Schull started the company to create a means of releasing "digital products on the web and ensure compensation for the owner."

SoftLock’s success peaked in 2000 when it was one of only a few technologies used to distribute Stephen King’s ebook Riding the Bullet online, one of the first mass market ebooks. But soon after, investors no longer wanted to inject capital into the operation, which meant he could no longer pay his 70 workers and the company shut down.

The professors plan was to do research, and allow his students to run the business.  What he learned was that students aren't always good capitalist.  I guess Alex P. Keaton wasn't in his class.

The full article is at democratandchronicle.com