Silicon Cowboys Page #5

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In a corporate culture that

gives employees free cokes

And puts trees in

the.

We started out providing

coffee and soft drinks

For everybody when there were

10 people in the company.

Jim harris and I would

stop by the grocery store

And pick up some more

soft drinks for the day

If we needed it.

It was a very egalitarian

kind of culture,

And it really owes it to rod.

You sense that the

employees appreciate

The fact that you don't

have a marked parking place?

How often do you

get to work early

To get your job

done and you walk

By an empty reserved

parking place?

Just seemed to make sense that

the people who got there first

Deserved to park

closest to the door.

You'd see rod canion

walking down the hall,

And it was certainly more than

permissible-- it was hoped--

That you would stop and

talk with him if you

Had something to talk about.

Announcer:
The corporate

culture at compaq computer

Means involving

employees in decision

Making at almost every level.

What I think, or what I say,

can change things where you

Work-- that makes a difference.

Steven ullrich:
We were all

very proud of what we did.

The camaraderie,

and the teamwork,

And the ability to get things

done without the red tape

And without all the

hassel that comes

With big company bureaucracies.

Roger mcnamee:
Ibm was

the very definition

Of what a large american

corporation was.

Announcer:
They don't call

it big blue for nothing.

It's a company with more

than 387,000 employees,

834,000 shareholders, and 590

million shares of common stock.

Bill aulet:
When you looked at

the organization chart of ibm,

It was a very

hierarchical organization.

Here's the person up here

and you're down here.

What came down from on top is,

you better not lose and that

Was just in ibm's blood.

So it was a very, very

competitive environment

That you had to go through.

The greatest asset

the ibm corporation

Has happen to be its people.

If you can give an individual

a given set of objectives,

Measure them, and

then reward them,

Then almost any target

can be achieved.

Howard anderson:
Ibm was a

financially driven company.

Make your numbers, make your

numbers, make your numbers.

Announcer:
If you run a small

business profits can get

Squeezed when inventory doesn't

match up with production.

What can help is a visit to an

ibm personal computer dealer.

Bill aulet:
We thought

a breakthrough,

Kind of out-of-the-box

thinking for marketing

Was having charlie

chaplin sell our products.

Announcer:
The ibm

personal computer--

Not only can it help you plan

ahead, it'll balance your books

And give you more

time to make dough.

Bill aulet:
Charlie chaplin

being innovative marketing?

It was for ibm, but it wasn't

for the rest of the world.

Why buy just a video game

from atari or on television.

Invest in the wonder computer

of the 1980's for under $300.

Chris garcia:
Everyone

was pitching computers.

You had william

shatner for commodore.

With the commodore

vic-20, the whole family

Can learn computing at home.

Chris garcia:
My personal

favorite, king kong bundy,

Was selling computers.

Announcer:
Bundy has never

used a computer before.

He's sitting down.

Wait a minute, the on

screen instructions

Are so simple he doesn't have

to wrestle with a manual.

Compaq had john cleese.

Hello, I'm going to

tell you about compaq's

New portable ii computer.

It's such a marvelous machine

that it would be quite

Unfair to compare it

with another computer,

So we've decided to

compare it with this fish.

Chris garcia:
A surrealistic

comedian from England

Who was more identifiable

to the geeks in the audience

Than to the general population.

The compaq portable

ii, however,

Can run all ibm's most

popular software 30%

Faster than ibm can.

Ha, ha, ha.

Tv ads with john cleese were

a runaway best selling hit.

Announcer:
Inside compaq is

capacity equal to 30 diskettes.

I need a vacation.

This decision was sound.

Wrong, but sound.

Announcer:
Kind of makes

you want to cry, huh?

I am crying.

Ben rosen:
The same year

that we did the john cleese

Commercials, apple

announced the macintosh

With its 1984 commercial.

And we will bury them

with their own confusion.

Ah!

We shall prevail.

Announcer:
Apple

computer officially

Unveiled its new macintosh.

The new apple that

costs less than $2,500

Is supposed to be one of the

easiest computers to use.

What the mac has really

brought us is really affordable,

High resolution

graphics and that

Leads us to a whole new

generation of software

Where pictures and text

are both important.

What corporations had

to do, because so many

Of their creative

types wanted apple,

Is they had to

have a subheading.

Ok, the creative types

can have their apple,

But apple was not really

compatible with the rest

Of the world.

And apple really

didn't want that world.

Mike swavely:
Apple was

not a concern to compaq

Because they seemed perfectly

happy with their 4% or 5%

Market share, and

people that bought

Apples weren't usually

people that were

Going to buy compaqs anyway.

Announcer:
Meet the lady.

Her name is lisa, and she

is the most exciting thing

To happen in computers today.

John markoff:
Steve

jobs created the lisa,

An attempt to do what compaq

ultimately did successfully.

It was an attempt to enter the

business market for computers

And it failed miserably.

Announcer:
Unlimited

power-- lisa, from apple.

John markoff:
Despite

steve jobs welcoming compaq

To this industry, that they

had thought that they had

Pioneered, steve jobs

was gone from his company

Within the space of three years.

Compaq basically shook silicon

valley to its very foundations.

Chris garcia:
What

compaq did give to apple

Was that it proved

that you could

Compete against the

monster and succeed.

Well, computer

stocks haven't exactly

Been the darlings of

wall street of late,

But as steve young

now reports, that

Didn't stop compaq from

promoting its latest

Product in gala fashion.

I wear my

sunglasses at night.

I wear my sunglasses at night.

Announcer:
Ladies and

gentlemen, david copperfield.

Mike swavely:
Ken

price basically

Came up with the concept of an

event to introduce a product.

There were no limits.

Announcer:
Ladies and gentlemen,

compaq computer corporation

Proudly presents, live,

the pointer sisters.

I'm so excited,

and I just can't hide it.

Roger mcnamee:
I went to

some of those early compaq

Product introductions,

and I'm going,

Wow, that's like show biz.

Rod canion:
I was doing things

that I had never done before.

Announcer:
Ladies and

gentlemen, rod canion.

Rod baby canion as we say

in hollywood, rod baby.

Ben rosen:
All tech ceos

need communications training.

Ken price:
He went from wal-mart

polyester suits and shirts

To really nice woolen

designer jackets.

Ben rosen:
All of us could use

a little improvement, right.

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