[Jtsummers]

You are correct. 1998 is the year of Pets.com and many other internet bubble ventures. Which led to a surge in CS enrollment from ~1999-2005 which really, really sucked for those of us that actually wanted to study CS and weren't in it "for the money". The professional/academic feedback loop also managed to catch me when I tried going to graduate school (again, actually interested in it) and found myself surrounded by people who were in grad school to ride out the (then) downturn in the internet-based business sector (circa 2006). Enrollment numbers were sky high in grad programs so competition for advisors and TA positions was much harder than normal. Very frustrating times.