This scenario must have played out in multiple places. I was involved in one of them.
I was working at Tymshare, and we were evaluating the PDP-10 and the Xerox (XDS/SDS) Sigma 7.
My manager called me into his office.
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Mike, this conversation is strictly between you and me. If anyone asks, I will deny it happened.
You are our best Sigma 7 expert, and even you prefer the PDP-10.
We're doing final acceptance tests on the Sigma 7. If all the tests pass, we have to commit to it. If enough tests fail, we can return that machine.
---
I got the hint. Challenge accepted!
Knowing all the ins and outs of the Sigma 7, I found a few subtle ways to make it crash at random times, without any indication that anyone had interfered with the tests.
Eventually I slipped up and left my username visible in a core dump.
Back to my manager's office.
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Mike, we have a problem. Xerox figured out that you were messing with the Sigma 7 system software. We told them we would fire you. So, you're fired. You can't be in the office any more.
But you do have your Teletype at home, right? You have some projects to do on the PDP-10. Can you work on those and stay away from the Sigma 7?
Keep track of your hours, and after this blows over we will hire you back and give you that back pay.
---
So I did. And they did!
https://dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_are...
One very interesting thing about Xerox was not only their technology but their choice of business model. As smaller companies couldn't afford an expensive copier, they'd "rent" it and charge per copy. From the article:
> The company placed machines in well-traveled public spaces where it was on display, and in addition to sales, they also offered machine rental for smaller organizations. This was a low price for up to 2000 copies, and each copy after was 4¢. They also promised that a machine could be returned within fifteen days. The 650 pound behemoth was wildly successful.
Another similar interesting business model was pioneered by Rolls-Royce in their airplane turbine business. Instead of selling their whole turbine, they'd "rent" it and charge it "per flight hour", derisking both parts.
Xerox and Kodak were both amazing companies, and created a comfortable middle or upper middle class lifestyle for many thousands of Rochesterians.
It's a bit of a miracle any technology company that old is still going after all these years. "Dismal" does not seem like an accurate way of characterizing it.
(for someone just taking a glance at the stock price chart, which doesn't take into account dividends, it looks like they were performing well financially until COVID?)
Not quite 50 years, but you get the idea.
"Wow, that line has been flat for a long time! Why does anyone think this is a good investment?"
(not meant to be a commentary on Xerox's performance at all - they're clearly in a bad state right now)
Dividends are so out of favor now for most companies, it's not something I have personally cared that much about. But it is important to get a true picture, especially over very long timelines before tax laws changed that made buybacks more efficient.
Something like three fourths of the S&P 500 pay a dividend, so it's not really an irrelevancy.
so yeah, thanks Carl.
[•] <https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer...>
In addition to all the technical detail, you learn so much about corporate hubris in their massive quest for non-innovation (resting on their laurels).
C-level staff ignored the brilliance of their Alto computer, invited Steve Jobs over in exchange for a few shares of AAPL IPO [which they almost-immediately sold], and left all their computer researchers scratching their heads as to why staff were being ignored.