We got bigger, much scarier competitors. We ended up with Microsoft, a company with all the money in the world, the way I look at those guys. And IBM, another company that, historically, dwarfed us.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It became clear to me by 1984 that Microsoft was likely going to be the big winner in the PC software apps and operating system category, partly because of the dynamics of owning and controlling the operating system: that gave you enormous power, and I came to see Bill Gates was fierce competitor.
An awful lot of successful technology companies ended up being in a slightly different market than they started out in.
If being the biggest company was a guarantee of success, we'd all be using IBM computers and driving GM cars.
IBM has research and development; so do Microsoft and Nike and even Jose Andres. But there hasn't been enough R&D on feeding people in the Third World. This has to be part of the process; if not, we'll keep throwing money at the problem instead of investing in true solutions.
An awful lot of successful technology companies ended up being in a slightly different market than they started out in. Microsoft started with programming tools, but came out with an operating system. Oracle started doing contracts for the CIA. AOL started out as an online video gaming network.
The fact is that our business is fundamentally really strong. We have a platform and a depth that no one in the tech industry has. This means we have competitors at every layer.
Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.
You know, IBM was almost knocked out of the box by other types of computer software and manufacturing.
We can learn from IBM's successful history that you don't have to have the best product to become number one. You don't even have to have a good product.
You cannot have companies where many of the largest ones lose money indefinitely without someone finally waving the white flag, and IBM is the most recent example of that.