An old, bearded shepherd, with a crooked staff, walks up to a stone
pulpit and says.
And lo it came to pass that the trader by the name of Abraham Com did
take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a
comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she had been
called Amazon Dot Com. And she said unto Abraham, her husband, Why
doth thou travel far, from town to town, with thy goods when thou can
trade without ever leaving thy tent?
And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags
short of a camel load, but simply said, How, Dear? And Dot replied, I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send
messages saying what you have for sale and they will reply telling you
which hath the best price. And the sale can be made on the drums and
delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS).
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with
the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success.
Abraham sold all the goods he had, at the top price, without ever
moving from his tent. But this success did arouse envy. A man named
Maccabia did secrete himself inside Abraham's drum and was accused of
insider trading. And the young man did take to Dot Com's trading as
doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung.
They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Siderites, or
NERDS for short. And lo the land was so feverish with joy at the new
riches and the deafening sound of drums, that no one noticed that the
real riches were going to the drum maker, one Brother William of
Gates, who bought up every drum company in the land. And indeed did
insist on making drums that would only work if you bought Brother
Gates' drumsticks.
And Dot did say, Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken
over by others. And as Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or
as it came to be known, eBay, he said, we need a name of a service
that reflects what we are, and Dot replied, Young Ambitious Hebrew
Owner Operators. Whoopee!, said Abraham. No, YAHOO!, said Dot
Com.