On Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 1:51:58 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/10/2019 12:43 PM, trader_4 wrote:


The actual history shows that IBM was as perplexed about the nascent
personal computer business and there was no grand scheme. And there was
no x86 business at that point, the PC was introduced not in the business
market, but the personal computing, home market.


Ken Olson, founder and CEO of DEC could not understand why anyone would
want a computer on their desk. The PC made no sense to him. Hopefully,
he tucked away enough money to live on or he'd be waiting tables now.
DEC had facilities all over MA in their prime days.

Ken Olsen and DEC are indeed an interesting case study. Olsen was working at the labs at MIT and realized the need for smaller computers that could be utilized in places like labs and factories, instead of mainframes. He created the minicomputer business, which IBM, DG, Burroughs, etc ignored. He got inside their time and product cycles, out maneuvered them, and built DEC into a Fortune 500 company. That was the 60s and 70s. DEC ruled the roost and appeared invincible. Then the PC came along and the same thing happened to DEC and Ken Olsen that he had done to the mainframe companies. DEC missed the PC, blew it, and it tore into their business. Compaq wound up buying them when they had already fallen badly and couldn't get back up. That was a mistake. But despite the humiliation, I'm sure Olsen had plenty of money and didn't suffer. He was one of those guys who wore off the rack suits, worked 80 hours a week, rarely took vacation, drove an ordinary car. Similar to guys like Andy Grove, Gordon Moore, Bob Noyce, and Warren Buffet.