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

[JF Mezei]

Michael Kraemer wrote:

> http://www.businessweek.com/1997/17/b3524142.htm

The following 2 paragraphs define DEC's problems really well:

##
In retrospect, former Digital executives say, the company would have had
more success if it had lowered the price of Alpha computers. By late
1994, engineers had found a way to deliver a $4,995 ''AlphaStation''
aimed at the fast-growing workstation market. But a clash broke out
among Digital's senior management because of fears that this could
damage the 50%-plus gross margins Digital enjoyed on high-end computers,
one of the few bright spots in its gloomy financial outlook.

''SPLIT PERSONALITY.'' Digital's PC Business Unit was none too happy
about the prospect of low-cost Alpha machines, either. Execs there
lobbied against it, saying it would undercut prospects for building a
big business around Intel-based PCs. When the Alpha- Station finally hit
the market, it bore a $7,995 price tag. ''Digital has always had a split
personality,'' says Enrico Pesatori, who left Digital last summer after
the PC Business Unit he headed suffered continuing losses. ''Every Intel
server sold means an Alpha server that is not sold.''
##

That is also why they used epoxy to fill bus slots in a machine so that
customers woudln't buy a less expensive one if they needed those.