In this story: Trouble with shoes, not potential wives A virtual billboard for sponsors NotComGuy takes on DotComGuy 'A time when I flip out a little' RELATED STORIES, SITES

January 25, 2000
Web posted at: 12:18 p.m. EST (1718 GMT)

By Richard Stenger
CNN Interactive Writer

(CNN) -- Barraged by reporters, mobbed by chat room fans, courted by talk shows, DotComGuy has struck a high-tech nerve since beginning his self-imposed exile this month. The twentysomething, former corporate computing drone has agreed to stay in a house until 2001, foraging out into the world only via the Internet, which he asserts will supply all his needs.

DotComGuy, his recently assumed legal name, has so far put on a happy face in front of the dozen or so Web cameras in his house, calling most domestic activities "fun," most interview questions "excellent" and ending most daily journal entrees with the mantra, "I love the Internet." But questions remain about the independence of DotComGuy.com's Web site reviews, which glow brightly when they concern sponsors. And critics, including the self-professed NotComGuy, dismiss his vision of e-utopia as a publicity stunt.

Nonetheless, the media has swooned over DotComGuy, who in recent weeks has given 400 or more interviews by phone, camera and chat room, spreading the word about e-commerce to televisions stations and newspapers as far away as Japan and India.

So has the surfing public. In one 12-hour period, 900,000 people checked out his site, according to DotComGuy. "We used up enough bandwidth in two days we thought we would use in one month," he said.

Since going into an empty house in suburban Dallas on January 1 with little more than a laptop, the cyber-recluse has hosted a live 24-hour video feed of his life, much of which consists of ordering food, furniture and clothes on the Internet.

Trouble with shoes, not potential wives

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DotComGuy e-Commerce Internet society

Ever upbeat, he likens his switch from the outside world to his Internet hermitage as a move from a beautiful beachfront property to a scenic mountain spot. "I have not had any time to miss anything," he said.

The former UPS computing systems manager has had trouble finding shoes, but not potential wives. Women from all over the world have proposed online. But DotComGuy considers himself an "old-fashioned kind of guy."

"I don't think a virtual date would be appropriate," he said. "Instead I would have a limo pick her up and bring her to my home, where we would a nice romantic dinner."

For now, the bachelor has mostly wooed sponsors. To launch DotComGuyInc., he and some friends enlisted the aid of a PR firm specializing in product placement. The venture has struck corporate paydirt, convincing a variety of e-commerce businesses to donate goods, services or money.

A virtual billboard for sponsors

In return, DotComGuy serves as a virtual billboard displayed across the world, repeatedly makes pitches for sponsors in his media interviews, Web site reviews, and daily journal entrees.

"What Internet site has proven the most beneficial?" one questioner asked in a CNN chat on January 13.

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With DotComGuy and NotComGuy

DotComGuy responds with the name of a prime sponsor. "From there, I can always find the store I am looking for." On his site, he offers more about the company:

"They're visionaries, the first to realize the possibilities of DotComGuy," he gushes. He adds that the sponsor is "a portal for the nation's largest e-tailers (that) personalizes the shopping experience and makes it so simple."

Other partners receive similar treatment. After tripping over his computer wires, a technical support company that "offers a human approach to service (sent) a qualified repairman to the Dotcompound," he wrote in his daily journal.

Whether picking curtains, sweating with his fitness trainer or eating fresh peas, DotComGuy seems likely to favorably mention the sponsor that supplied them. Fair enough. But DotComGuy, looking for a profession during his yearlong stint, has taken to reviewing Web businesses. Guess which ones fare poorly? Non-sponsors. PC Mall, for example, which is not listed as a partner, has "a very confusing site."

DotComGuy insists the reviews are independent and invites e-buddies to post their own thoughts on products: "Don't worry about my views. It's a place for everyone to post opinions."

NotComGuy takes on DotComGuy

DotComGuy

As of yet, however, glowing reviews for sponsors seem abundant and outside reviews scarce.

Eric Zorn, a Chicago Tribune columnist, has become the most vocal critic of DotComGuy. Proclaiming himself NotComGuy, Zorn unplugged almost everything for a week and survived to tell about his experience. He filled his suddenly quiet, empty hours with productive reading, writing by hand and researching without computers. Zorn has little use for the exploits of his "bitter rival."

"I think it's a big silly stunt. Whereas mine was a little silly stunt. I think DotComGuy is doing what a lot of people are more or less already doing, spending most of every day either sleeping or being online. He just gets a little less sun and a lot more publicity," Zorn said in a January 18 CNN chat.

DotComGuy remains unfazed and responds to his critics diplomatically. "I think it's a lack of understanding of our purpose here. It's not to submerge yourself in technology. We're only doing it show the ease of e-commerce, how it can simplify our lives."

Still, DotComGuy admits his life has become hectic, in particular with the demands of the media. Even Roseanne Barr is considering having the virtual celebrity on her talk show.

'A time when I flip out a little'

"I'm sure there will be a time when I flip out a little bit. I hope people will understand that I am human just like them," he said.

Money works as an incentive for DotComGuy to stay. His first month's stipend of $24 doubles every month, meaning he will pocket almost $100,000 should he stay until January 1, 2001.

In the meantime, he presses forward with his busy schedule, reviewing Web sites by day and leading an active social life by night. Friends, relatives and sponsor reps often hang out at the Dotcompound, sometimes taking part in "Jammie Jam" slumber parties or karaoke night. His flat television screen TV, ordered on the Internet, may not arrive in time for the Super Bowl, but DotComGuy promises a great party nonetheless:

"People will bring a bowl that is super. If a football game is on that day, we'll watch it."

Perhaps DotComGuy should consider sneaking out of the backyard, which he visits most mornings, to watch the big game somewhere else, maybe at the house of his new friend, Troy Vincent with the Philadelphia Eagles. The star NFL cornerback recently stopped by the Dotcompound and donated a signed football to auction for charity.

How did the two meet? Vincent's motorcycle team has the same primary sponsor as DotComGuy, DotComGuy explains.

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