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DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation

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Description

From an insider, the forty-year saga of the rise and fall of Digital Equipment Corporation, one of the pioneering companies of the computer age. Digital Equipment Corporation created the minicomputer, networking, the concept of distributed computing, speech recognition, and other major innovations. It was the number-two computer maker behind IBM. Yet it ultimately failed as a business and was sold to Compaq Corporation. What happened? Edgar Schein consulted to DEC throughout its history and so had unparalleled access to all the major players, and an inside view of all the major events. He shows how the unique organizational culture established by DEC's founder, Ken Olsen, gave the company important competitive advantages in its early years, but later became a hindrance and ultimately led to its downfall. Coauthors Schein, Kampas, DeLisi, and Sonduck explain in detail how a particular culture can become so embedded that an organization is unable to adapt to changing circumstances even though it sees the need very clearly. The essential elements of DEC’s culture are still visible in many other organizations today, and most former employees are so positive about their days at DEC that they attempt to reproduce its culture in their current work situations. In the era of post-dotcom meltdown, raging debate about companies “built to last” vs. “built to sell,” and more entrepreneurial startups than ever, the rise and fall of DEC is the ultimate case study. Read more


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berrett-Koehler Publishers (August 15, 2004)


Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 15, 2004


Language ‏ : ‎ English


File size ‏ : ‎ 3488 KB


Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled


Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported


Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled


X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled


Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • a very interesting read
Was expecting a more technical look at DEC, but enjoyed the thorough view of the positive and negative aspects of its culture and its demise, even as the company lives on through its managers, employees and products.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2023 by Amazon Customer

  • Needed to be written, needs to be read
I recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with DEC or wishes to understand its enduring legacies. It is also a useful case study on who a company that was doing so well could ultimately fail; are Microsoft and IBM really immune from this fate? I used DEC equipment during its heyday from the late 1970's throughout the 1980s. What I value most is how the technical experiences I recall from that time were given depth. The author's narrative binds together a collection of internal memos and personal recollections of many of those who were working at DEC when many of its fateful decisions were made. In general, responsibility for the ultimate failure of DEC to survive as a company is laid with the senior management, in particular with CEO Ken Olsen. The same attributes that made DEC great and innovative were the ones that lead to its downfall. Alas, DEC is not dead but lives on in all the innovations it introduced. I would like liked to have seen some more details on the technical innovations and more exposure to the myths and legends that many of us were weaned on. But that was not the main thesis of the book so it's not a deficiency per se. Though written in a straightforward and matter of fact way with little flourish, I was engrossed and quickly polished it off. This book needed to be written. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2005 by Bryan MacKinnon

  • A very good book much better than the others I have read. A little slow and gives technology a short shrift.
This is a some times draggy book but does explain the factors that led to DEC's demise. The balkanization into fiefdoms is well explained. We had VAX 3100 workstations and VAX 3800 computers. They worked great but by the mid '80s were underpowered. A new RFP was issued and DEC bid the 8600; great but overkill. I wound up working on the GE Aerospace Division Terminal Working Group (we were responsible for promoting new technologies as well as evaluating which to adopt). The VT180/278 basically shoved a Z80 with CPM or added PDP8, not a good try. None of the DEC attempts at a PC were cost effective or viable. Although Health Kit sold a kit version of the PDP11 at a reasonable price--if you didn't need software. Then in the '90 they came out with a version of VMS for the Intel 486 with full functionality. We ordered 20,000 copies with a follow on of up to 1M copies. We were told that we could not get it as Ken Olsen torpedoed the project. That could have saved DEC. We were not the only customer with strong interest and I would estimate that DEC could have sold several 50M copies. Aside from the odd omissions by the author (DEC's PDP10/20 large scale computers are barely mentioned) and no mention of VMS on the VAX this is a great book and research resource on DEC. As for why the VMS on Intel was torpedoed it's not clear but Ken may have gotten the blame for what others did. Certainly it was a disruptive technology that would have killed off most of DEC's computer lines fairly quickly. But DEC could have supplanted MS! DEC pioneered a lot of things that have led to the cloud computing today. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2013 by G. Robinson

  • For the die hard Deccie
Having worked for Digital for 30 years, I found the book informative and the inside baseball information interesting. It probably won't resonate for those who didn't have a relationship with the Company.
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019 by MrBill

  • The book is in nice shape.
As advertised. A reasonable price. Received within a short time.
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019 by Ken Morod

  • Engineering and Marketing
As a 17 year veteran of digital equipment corporation, I enjoy reliving our perennial discussions (arguments). I wonder at the ability of Ken Olsen to inspire by empowerment. I also wonder at the depth of the final fall from profitability. The questions are raised, but not completely answered by this book. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2013 by Kindle Customer

  • Very accurate
It brought back many good memories.
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2019 by Octavio Echeverria

  • Good book
An interesting and fascinating story of Amercan tech busness success and it's unraveling in the face of an established company culture and a very fast-changing industry.
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013 by Kirby Wohlander

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