Austin said goodbye to its prime monument to the dot.com bust at 7.37 this morning when the Intel "building" (or skeleton or pre-ruin) was imploded. Footage and history here.

Like most such events, I slept through it. The concrete shell acted as a vast ugly ghost in the middle of downtown since Intel abandoned work on the building in 2001, a reminder of the way that period's mad enthusiasm for techno-capitalism turned into a sucking black hole overnight. And I think a lot of people wanted it to remain as a sort of memento mori for the next generation of web-entrepreneurs swanking around town in their regulation blue oxford shirts, neatly ironed chinos and tasseled loafers. And perhaps, at the same time, to show the city managers what you sometimes ended up with when you lure a big business to bring jobs to Austin with the promise of 15 million dollars in incentives.

A federal courthouse will be built in its place. Which almost seems like a punchline looking for a suitable joke. At least it's not more condos. Or though if Will Wynn hadn't waited until the very last minute to chirp up....