gillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu (01/21/88)
It's highly amusing that he chose to mention RCA! From Jan '88 Technology Review: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book Review: "When R & D gets Out of Hand" RCA and the VideoDisc (by Margaret B.W. Graham) Cambridge University Press Goes on to describe RCA Labs and the pioneering work they did. In this story & corporation, the R&D tail wagged! the dog. Then describes the videodisc fiasco, RCA's second in the decade of the 1970's (the first being RCA computers). The damage was so serious the company was sold to GE in 1986! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of course there are other examples of ridiculously overproprietary products. This week the fate of Beta videotape was sealed when Sony finally decided to manufacture & sell VHS machines! I can see it now, San Jose Mercury News, June 5, 1992 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cupertino, CA (AP) IBM announced it was buying Apple computer, which has floundered ever since the introduction of the Macintosh III computer. Once clone-makers imitated Apple's windowing software on 80386 machines with OS/2, Apple began to lose its technological edge. Then, an 8-month technical delay in the release of Multifinder 9.0 completely stalled sales of the Macintosh line and choked the corporation for funds. Meanwhile, a price war among Asian PC makers captured 98% of the PC marketplace and completely quenched demand until the next generation of computers is released (Intel 80586, Motorolla 68050) four years from now. IBM intends to plunder Apple's workforce for its best technical people, and then disband the company so it can never threaten IBM again.