Pixelon

Pixelon was a dot-com company founded in 1998 that promised better distribution of high-quality video over the Internet. It gained fame for its extravagant Las Vegas launch party, followed by its sudden and violent decline less than a year later, as it became evident it was using technologies that were, in fact, fake or misrepresented.[1] Its founder, "Michael Fenne", was actually David Kim Stanley, a convicted felon involved in stock scams who was "on the lam and living out of the back of his car" when he arrived in California two years earlier.[2][3] In the year 2000 Pixelon began to fire employees and reduce its operations until its bankruptcy.[4]

iBash '99

The party event for Pixelon's product launch, called "iBASH '99", was held October 29, 1999 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, at a reported cost of US$16 million.[1] The lineup featured performances by Chely Wright, LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Sugar Ray, Natalie Cole, KISS, Tony Bennett, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and a reunion of The Who.[5][6]

Pixelon announced that iBash would be broadcast over the Internet as a technology demonstration. The live stream displayed error messages to thousands of people and most of those watching the concert did so with Microsoft's streaming software instead of Pixelon's.[7] Pixelon leased the Astrovision screen in Times Square in New York City to show an eight-hour-plus live feed of the event.[8] An edited 2-hour show aired on October 30, 1999 on Pax TV (now known as Ion Television).[9]

iBash was produced by Woody Fraser Productions and was hosted live by David Spade and Cindy Margolis.[10] The Who later released their set as a DVD titled The Vegas Job, featuring two short pre-show interviews with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, and a short after-crash interview with David Kim Stanley admitting to embezzlement.

References

  1. 1 2 "The $16m Pixelon Party". The Protein Feed. 2000-05-18. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  2. ↑ Joanna Glasner (2000-05-16). "Perilous Fall of Pixelon". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  3. ↑ Dan Tynan (2006-09-15). "PC World - The 25 Worst Web Sites". Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  4. ↑ Patricia Jacobus (2000-05-12). "Pixelon issues sweeping layoffs after founder's arrest". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  5. ↑ "Pixelon.com Announces iBash '99" (Press release). 1999-10-27. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  6. ↑ "Pixelon.com Launches Today With Star-Studded iBASH '99 as the First Full-Screen, Full-Motion, TV-Quality Internet Broadcaster" (Press release). Business Wire. 1999-10-29. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  7. ↑ Dan Goodin (2000-01-03). "Pixelon's Broken Promises". The Industry Standard. Archived from the original on 2000-06-21. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  8. ↑ "Pixelon.com Launch Sets New Standard For Compelling Internet Programming" (Press release). 1999-11-02. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  9. ↑ Traiman, Steve (1999-10-30). "Vegas Music Bash Kicks Off Pixelon Web Site". Billboard. p. 52. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  10. ↑ Dan Goodin (2000-06-26). "The Great Internet Con". The Industry Standard. Archived from the original on 2000-07-11. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
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