THE LAND THAT STYLE FORGOT; COMFORT TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER STYLE FOR THE DOT-COM GUYS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Daily News Record, April, 2000 by Courtay, Romy de

REDWOOD CITY -- Some time ago, a taxi driver picked up a scruffy-looking man at the San Jose airport after several cabbies had turned him down for fear he would not be able to pay the fare.

The man was multimillionaire Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Deep in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, the men and women responsible for the Internet revolution could easily suffer the same fate at any airport around the world. And yet, many are (at least on paper) millionaire savants, whose vision and innovation have transformed modern-day society into a free-flowing swirl of information.

At their worst, dot-com guys look like rebellious kids with spiked green hair and nose piercings. At their best, they look like 30-somethings who can't quite accept...