(C) The 2000-2003 tech crash was the junior varsity partner of the 2000-2003 telecom crash, which was much bigger and, significantly, involved both equity and debt. Far more money was lost in telecom than tech. In retrospect, I think this colored people's view of how bad the tech crash actually was.
(D) In the spirit of "experts have predicted 9 of the last 2 recessions", there were many other temporary hits to tech stocks both before and after the big 2000 crash. It is not at all obvious which hits are temporary or significant until you see how they play out.
Hadn't considered this piece. Reminds me of WWI aftermath hiding the significance of deaths of the Spanish flu. But in this case, you're saying the telecom crash magnified the dotcom crash?