[Info-vax] Steve Jobes [was: Apple says ...]

[JF Mezei]

Richard B. Gilbert wrote:

>> I think Palmer had more of a hand in that!
>>
> 
> I think there's plenty of blame to spread around.  The fact remains that 
> DEC was selling its merchandise at a premium while the competition was 
> selling for less, a *lot* less!  


When Palmer took over from Olsen, DEC's higher prices and lack of
marketing were widely known problems that even customers had been
begging be fixed ASAP.

Palmer did reduce the price gap in many instances, but not enough. And
he did some marketing, but the marketing was aimed at moving VMS users
to Unix (scaring new customers away since they no longer knew where DEC
was going) instead of attracting new customers.


DEC needed a Gerstner to rebuilt/re-invent the company. Palmer wasn't
even close to being CEO material and certaintly not able to rebuild a
company.

Remember the constant reorgs after each bad financial quarter ? Palmer
couldn't even set a long term plan and tell Wall Street to be patient.