Jack Sams, who started IBM's relationship with
Microsoft with that first call
to Bill Gates in 1980, could only look on as the
partnership disintegrated.
Then they at that point I think they agreed
to disagree
on the future progress of OS 2 and Windows.
And internally we were told thou shalt not ship
any more products on Windows.
And about that time I got the opportunity
to take early retirement so I did.
Bill's decison by the fireplace ended the ten year
IBM/Microsoft partnership
and turned IBM into an also-ran in the PC
business.
Did David beat Goliath?
The Boca Raton, Florida birthplace of the IBM's PC
is deserted,
a casualty of diminishing market share.
Today, IBM is again what it was before:
a profitable, dominant mainframe computer
company.
For awhile IBM dominated the PC market.
They legitimised the PC business,
created the standards most of us now use,
and introduced the PC
to the corporate world.
But in the end they lost out.
Maybe it was to a faster, more flexible
business culture.
Or maybe they just threw it away.
That's the view of a guy who's been competing
with IBM for 20 years,
Silicon Valley's most outspoken software
billionaire, Larry Ellison.
I think IBM made the single worst mistake in
the history of enterprise on earth.
- Which was?
Which was the manufacture
being the first manufacturer and distributor of
the Microsoft/Intel PC
which they mistakenly called the IBM PC.
I mean they were the first manufacturer and
distributor of that technology
I mean it's just simply astounding that they
could ah...
basically give a third of their market value
to Intel
and a third of their market value to Microsoft
by accident
I mean no-one, no-one... I mean those two
companies today are worth
close to you know approaching
a hundred billion dollars
I mean not many of us get a chance to make
a $100 billion mistake.
As fast as IBM abandons its buildings, Microsoft
builds new ones.
In 1980 IBM was 3000 times the size of Microsoft.
Though still a smaller company, today Wall Street
says Microsoft is worth more.
Both have faced anti-trust investigations about
their monopoly positions.
For years IBM defined successful American corporate
culture - as a machine of ordered bureaucracy.
Here in the corridors of Microsoft it's a different
style, it's personal.
This company - in its drive, its hunger to succeed,
is a reflection of one man, its founder, Bill Gates.
Bill wanted to win.
Incredible desire to win and to beat other people.
At Microsoft we, the whole idea was that we would
put people under, you know.
And unfortunately, ah... that's happened a lot.
Bill Gates is special. You wouldn't have had
a Microsoft
with take a random other person like Gary Kildall.
On the other hand, Bill Gates was also lucky.
But Bill Gates knows that, unlike a lot of other
people in the industry, and he's paranoid.
Every morning he gets up and he doesn't feel
secure, he feels nervous about this.
They're trying hard, they're not relaxing, and that's
why they're so successful.
And I remember, I was talking to Bill once and I
asked him what he feared,
and he said that he feared growing old because, you
know, once you're beyond thirty,
this was his belief at the time, you know once you're
beyond thirty, you know,
you don't have as many good ideas anymore.
You're not as smart anymore.
If you just slow down a little bit who knows who
it'll be,
probably some company that may not even
exist yet,
but eh someone else can come in and take the lead.
And I said well, you know, you're going to age, it's
going to happen, it's kind of inevitable,
what are you going to do about it?
And he said I'm just going to hire the smartest
people and I'm going to surround myself
with all these smart people, you know.
And I thought that was kind of interesting.
It was almost - it was like he was like oh,
I can't be immortal, but like maybe this is the
second best and I can buy that,