Data General joins disappearing species

By  Eric  Auchard

Think of them as the dinosaurs of the computer industry. Once      high-flying computer makers like Digital Equipment, Control Data , Wang, Burroughs and Univac, have seen their original businesses vanish in the face of changes brought on by the likes of Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp. and INTEL Corp.

Last week, computer maker Data General Corp. became the latest in a long list of fabled names to be swallowed up -- in this case, by  fast-growing EMC Corp., the top maker of high-capacity data storage systems, in a US$1.1 billion (RM4.2 billion) deal.

After an explosive 15-year-period of growth that powered it into the mid-1980s, Data General had suffered a series of tough technology transitions that left it struggling in several niche businesses and selling product under other company's names. John Jones, a computer industry analyst with brokerage Salomon Smith Barney, said the principal lesson to be drawn from the demise of such once great companies was that :  " You have to find a way to cover your technology flanks " .

" Companies in this  industry always have to take the                  next-technology opportunity, the next business very seriously, "  Jones said, referring to prior transitions from main-frames to minicomputers to Unix machines and personal computers (PCs).

Today, established computer makers face new threats from computers running Microsoft's Window NT or Linux, a renegade version of the Unix software system that runs large business computers.

Meanwhile, PC makers are girding for the arrival of so-called information appliances that offer simpler to use, lower cost access to the Internet.

The computer industry is littered with tales of well-known companies like Data General that rode a wave of demand for their timely new machines, only to fall short on the transition when a sudden shift to new technologies took place.