In the time that I worked for DEC (1989-1999) they had the world's largest
private network other than the US military and this was at a time when the
"internet" was in it's infancy, this was all well established before Bob
Palmer took over and he just never had the vision to capitalise on the IP in
the company, just wanted to sell commodity PCs and compete in that crowded
marketplace ! What a stupid arsehole, granted DEC was in a bit of a slump
but could have come out on top with good leadership !
...Wayne
> -----Original Message-----
> From: olympus <olympus-
> bounces+wayne.harridge=structuregraphs.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
> Behalf Of Ken Norton
> Sent: Saturday, 3 October 2020 10:08 AM
> To: Olympus Camera Discussion <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [OM] Whither Olympus: The Oracle speaks
>
> > Digital Equipment corp, when run by Ken Olsen and Gordon Bell, was very
> good at new innovation. But the internal divisions started competing with
> each other. Disk drives were only profitable when coupled with expensive
> mini-computers. The semiconductor group making a uVax was at odds with
> the more main frame style mini-computer division. Then they replaced Ken
> with hatchet man Bob Palmer and broke up the company.
>
> I've read a couple of books about DEC, and it was a case-study in a
business
> class I took. A business writer friend of mine was a close friend of
Palmer and
> described to me some of the antics within the company that just created
> extreme tensions, backbiting, duplication of efforts, and an overall
> unsustainable business model. And most surprisingly, he drove the chief
> technology innovators out the door where they found welcoming arms at
> places like Microsoft. Honestly, I don't think Palmer understood what it
> meant to be a company that does "development engineering" for future
> products ten years into the future. He demanded results "now" or he
> deemed the project irrelevant.
> The sad thing was in the early 1990's the Internet hadn't hit yet, and the
> computer industry was still a business-to-business thing. Another year or
> two, and a refocus would have been a game-changer.
>
> The sad thing is that DEC was poised to "win the world". It was so close
to
> becoming THE dominant player, but they squandered it. I don't think any
> other company was in a position to capitalize on the brave new world of
"The
> Internet" quite like DEC was. Once the synergy is gone, it's gone forever.
And
> then Compaq completely destroyed what was left. The brain-drain was
> mind-boggling. The few that remained did provide good direction and
> leadership to a new generation of engineers and they produce some very
> relevant products, but lack any form of industry dominance.
>
>
> > And so it goes. Even great countries and civilizations change and
decline,
> often when they become overly self-important or self-confident.
>
> I enjoy businesses that have the attitude of "not knowing what they want
to
> be when they grow up." It's when they do that transition from
> startup/scrappy to established/protection, bad things happen. Roots grow
> deep into the soil and that tree can't be moved. When conditions change,
> that tree either has to adapt or it dies. Instead of constantly looking
for new
> things to conquer, they start to look inward. When a company stops growing
> the "top-line" and instead is focused on the "bottom-line" by overmilking
the
> skinny cow, its place of relevance is over. Countries are also the same
way. A
> growing empire is one that might be overspending the treasury, but finds
> purpose in the action. Once the empire is no longer growing or conquering,
it
> is focused on itself and squabbles break out, factions form, and worse of
all,
> the cost of maintaining the empire is too great without acquisition of
fresh
> resources. I think one reason why the USA has so much political disunity
right
> now is the fact that there isn't some alien race from Planet X that is
trying to
> destroy us with giant laserbeams.
>
>
> > The I Ching Oracle speaks: Change is inevitable.
> > So my advice: Delight in GAS while you can.
>
> If you resist temptation, you never know if the opportunity will ever come
by
> again.
>
> AG (no acquisitions remaining in 2020) Schnozz
> --
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