The Ultimate Entrepreneur
Encyclopedia
The biographical book, The ultimate entrepreneur: the story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation, chronicles the experiences of Ken Olsen
racing to design minicomputers at the company of his own founding, Digital Equipment Corporation
. At the time the book was published by two computer journal writers, Ken Olsen was competing with other Massachusetts computing companies such as Data General
(founded by his former employee), Prime Computer
, Wang Laboratories
, Symbolics
, Lotus Development Corporation, and Apollo Computer
. While believing in the value of software, he did not believe in the value of software separate from hardware, and missed the opportunity to fund Lotus 1-2-3
or Visicalc
. He also missed the importance of the personal computer, but his futuristic vision of the Client–server model helped to launch Ethernet
.
by Tracy Kidder, which was highly influential in local computing circles. That book documents the competition between Data General and DEC to create a 32-bit minicomputer
. Both companies missed the opportunity to launch successful micro-computers and by the time the book was published, the IBM PC
had already become a defacto standard. The year 1988 heralded a financial crisis that hit both companies hard, and started a downward slide in sales from which they never recovered.
However, at the time the book was published, the minicomputer market was still quite healthy, and Olsen was known as a dependable and trustworthy employer. DEC's community service projects were well known, most specifically his commitment to higher education and his donations of PDP-8
computers to local high schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The title of the book focuses on Ken Olsen's major career success, namely his successful introduction of the minicomputer
for small to medium businesses. It is therefore ironic that he failed to see that the next major innovation would be a smaller, personal, home-based computer. To his credit, the massive success of his early minicomputers was such that he was kept busy with improvements to his Programmed Data Processor
productline, attempting upward compatibility from the PDP-1 onwards, producing the highly successful PDP-8, and PDP-10
. One of his chief engineers, Edson de Castro
, left after failing to get permission to design a 16-bit
version of the 8-bit PDP-8 and founded Data General
. Both men then competed to create a 32-bit
version. This competition is well documented in the book The Soul of a New Machine
by Tracy Kidder. The VAX
became the cash cow for Digital Equipment, and the successful collaboration with Xerox
and Intel on the introduction of a local area network
solution called Ethernet
resulted in a decade of successful growth for the company.
Ken Olsen
Kenneth Harry Olsen was an American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation in 1957 with colleague Harlan Anderson.-Background:...
racing to design minicomputers at the company of his own founding, Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
. At the time the book was published by two computer journal writers, Ken Olsen was competing with other Massachusetts computing companies such as Data General
Data General
Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation. Their first product, the Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer...
(founded by his former employee), Prime Computer
Prime Computer
Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. The alternative spellings "PR1ME" and "PR1ME Computer" were used as brand names or logos by the company.-Founders:...
, Wang Laboratories
Wang Laboratories
Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951 by Dr. An Wang and Dr. G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge , Tewksbury , and finally in Lowell, Massachusetts . At its peak in the 1980s, Wang Laboratories had annual revenues of $3 billion and employed over...
, Symbolics
Symbolics
Symbolics refers to two companies: now-defunct computer manufacturer Symbolics, Inc., and a privately held company that acquired the assets of the former company and continues to sell and maintain the Open Genera Lisp system and the Macsyma computer algebra system.The symbolics.com domain was...
, Lotus Development Corporation, and Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska and others, developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s. Along with Symbolics and Sun Microsystems, Apollo was one of the first vendors of graphical workstations in the 1980s...
. While believing in the value of software, he did not believe in the value of software separate from hardware, and missed the opportunity to fund Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus 1-2-3 is a spreadsheet program from Lotus Software . It was the IBM PC's first "killer application"; its huge popularity in the mid-1980s contributed significantly to the success of the IBM PC in the corporate environment.-Beginnings:...
or Visicalc
VisiCalc
VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool...
. He also missed the importance of the personal computer, but his futuristic vision of the Client–server model helped to launch Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
.
Context
The book was written after the book The Soul of a New MachineThe Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder's non-fiction book, The Soul of a New Machine, chronicles the experiences of an engineering team racing to design a next generation computer under a blistering schedule and tremendous pressure. This machine was eventually launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000...
by Tracy Kidder, which was highly influential in local computing circles. That book documents the competition between Data General and DEC to create a 32-bit minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
. Both companies missed the opportunity to launch successful micro-computers and by the time the book was published, the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
had already become a defacto standard. The year 1988 heralded a financial crisis that hit both companies hard, and started a downward slide in sales from which they never recovered.
However, at the time the book was published, the minicomputer market was still quite healthy, and Olsen was known as a dependable and trustworthy employer. DEC's community service projects were well known, most specifically his commitment to higher education and his donations of PDP-8
PDP-8
The 12-bit PDP-8 was the first successful commercial minicomputer, produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1960s. DEC introduced it on 22 March 1965, and sold more than 50,000 systems, the most of any computer up to that date. It was the first widely sold computer in the DEC PDP series of...
computers to local high schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Themes
Though the book today serves partially as a historical document of the computing industry, some valuable business lessons can be learned from it. The most important lesson is that a company's culture must change as its operating environment changes. In many ways, Ken Olsen was responsible for much of the innovation that created the personal computer, even though DEC failed to produce any successful personal computer product itself before the book was published.The title of the book focuses on Ken Olsen's major career success, namely his successful introduction of the minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
for small to medium businesses. It is therefore ironic that he failed to see that the next major innovation would be a smaller, personal, home-based computer. To his credit, the massive success of his early minicomputers was such that he was kept busy with improvements to his Programmed Data Processor
Programmed Data Processor
Programmed Data Processor was the name of a series of minicomputers made by Digital Equipment Corporation. The name 'PDP' intentionally avoided the use of the term 'computer' because, at the time of the first PDPs, computers had a reputation of being large, complicated, and expensive machines, and...
productline, attempting upward compatibility from the PDP-1 onwards, producing the highly successful PDP-8, and PDP-10
PDP-10
The PDP-10 was a mainframe computer family manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation from the late 1960s on; the name stands for "Programmed Data Processor model 10". The first model was delivered in 1966...
. One of his chief engineers, Edson de Castro
Edson de Castro
Edson de Castro is a computer engineer perhaps best known for designing the Data General Nova series of computers.De Castro was founder and CEO of Data General Corporation throughout the 1970s, the 1980s and into the 1990s when he was replaced by Ronald L Skates, a former Price Waterhouse Coopers...
, left after failing to get permission to design a 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
version of the 8-bit PDP-8 and founded Data General
Data General
Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation. Their first product, the Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer...
. Both men then competed to create a 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
version. This competition is well documented in the book The Soul of a New Machine
The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder's non-fiction book, The Soul of a New Machine, chronicles the experiences of an engineering team racing to design a next generation computer under a blistering schedule and tremendous pressure. This machine was eventually launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000...
by Tracy Kidder. The VAX
VAX
VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...
became the cash cow for Digital Equipment, and the successful collaboration with Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
and Intel on the introduction of a local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
solution called Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
resulted in a decade of successful growth for the company.