SMALL TALK

... On Computer Companies

At Microsoft, Quality is Job version 1.1
      -- Anonymous

Bill Gates says no matter how much more power we can supply, he'll develop some really exciting software that will bring the machine to its knees.
      -- David House, Intel VP

By striving to move the Intel-standard PC world towards a 32-bit operating system, new 32-bit applications and friendlier hardware standards, Microsoft Corp. can be compared to a person trying to kick a dead whale down the beach. What's amazing is that with Windows 95, the whale moved.
      -- Stephen Howard, MacWeek, 8/21/95 Vol 9, No 33

History of computing littered with great companies that got their fingers burned in a shift of direction in the market.
      -- George Michaelson

IBM: it may be slow, but it's hard to use.
      -- Andrew Tannenbaum, author of Minix and Amoeba

IBM uses what I like to call the 'hole-in-the-ground' technique to destroy the competition... IBM digs a big hole in the ground and covers it with leaves.  It then puts a big pot of gold nearby.  Then it gives the call, 'Hey, look at all this gold, get over here fast.'  As soon as the competitor approaches the pot, he falls into the pit.
      -- John C. Dvorak

One of the benefits of being the first in a field is that you can claim the obvious name.
      -- Bill Gates, on how he came up with the name 'Microsoft'

Software suppliers are trying to make their software packages more 'user friendly'... Their best approach, so far, has been to take all the old brochures, and stamp the words 'user-friendly' on the cover.
      -- Bill Gates

Well, Microsoft is the number one software company in the world, we are the number two software company in the world. Well, they are the number one competitor.  Our goal is to be the number one software in the world and Bill's goal is to be the only software company in the world.
      -- Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, comparing Oracle and Microsoft.

[Small Talk Index] [Home]