Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 3:26 PM by Gene

Forbes has run a series of its patented puff pieces about eBay, much as Business Week ran puff pieces about GE before one of its most "talented" writers got a job transcribing Legendary Welch's excuses -- memoirs. From a strictly knee-jerk conservative standpoint (and from a business standpoint too) it's a phenomenal success; this relic of the Internet bubble is here to stay. On the other hand, having shopped many times on eBay, I feel at best an ambiguous relationship to it, one that can sour into thoughts of homicide. I like getting things at a discount, but there's a lot of greed for sale, and every time you bid you're going into a jungle, and it's easy to get sniped, or nibbled to death -- or scammed; and eBay's customer service makes Mickey D's look like a paragon of excellence. eBay may be here to stay, but it may not be here to be liked. I can't believe Meg "Pronounced 'Mug'" Whitman's hubris won't come back some day to haunt her -- as with her former boss Mickey Mouse Michael. Some people do lead charmed lives. But then, so did Mickey Mouse Michael.