Dante Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Got this off a f-up list at PC World from a bigger article. Has to be the worst negotiation in history. Damn, I couldn't sleep at night having to wonder what might have been!! Rest of the article is here "Digital Research: The Other Microsoft This one is a classic. In 1980, when IBM was looking for somebody to build a disc operating software for its brand-new IBM PC, Microsoft was not its first choice. In fact, none other than Bill Gates suggested that Big Blue approach Gary Kildall of Digital Research, author of the CP/M operating system. The legend is that Kildall blew IBM off to go fly his plane. The real story is that Kildall was flying to deliver a product to another customer, leaving his wife to negotiate with IBM. Dorothy Kildall didn't like parts of the deal IBM was proposing and sent the executives packing. Big Blue went back to Gates, who with his partner Paul Allen whipped out MS-DOS, based on Tim Paterson's QDOS (the Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was itself based on CP/M. IBM ended up offering both Microsoft's DOS (for $60) and a version of CP/M ($240) to buyers of the original IBM PC. The cheaper product won. Before DOS, Microsoft's biggest products were versions of the BASIC programming tool. After DOS, well...you know the rest. Would Microsoft have grown into the monolith it is today without the IBM contract? We'll never know." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Got this off a f-up list at PC World from a bigger article. Has to be the worst negotiation in history. Damn, I couldn't sleep at night having to wonder what might have been!!Rest of the article is here "Digital Research: The Other Microsoft This one is a classic. In 1980, when IBM was looking for somebody to build a disc operating software for its brand-new IBM PC, Microsoft was not its first choice. In fact, none other than Bill Gates suggested that Big Blue approach Gary Kildall of Digital Research, author of the CP/M operating system. The legend is that Kildall blew IBM off to go fly his plane. The real story is that Kildall was flying to deliver a product to another customer, leaving his wife to negotiate with IBM. Dorothy Kildall didn't like parts of the deal IBM was proposing and sent the executives packing. Big Blue went back to Gates, who with his partner Paul Allen whipped out MS-DOS, based on Tim Paterson's QDOS (the Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was itself based on CP/M. IBM ended up offering both Microsoft's DOS (for $60) and a version of CP/M ($240) to buyers of the original IBM PC. The cheaper product won. Before DOS, Microsoft's biggest products were versions of the BASIC programming tool. After DOS, well...you know the rest. Would Microsoft have grown into the monolith it is today without the IBM contract? We'll never know." Never Leave A Women In Charge!! Not only is that offensive to me but to every sensitive thinking man everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Never Leave A Women In Charge!! Not only is that offensive to me but to every sensitive thinking man everywhere. Just joking! Lighten up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Never Leave A Women In Charge!! Not only is that offensive to me but to every sensitive thinking man everywhere. Well of course that would be offensive to a woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Just joking! Lighten up There are a lot of women who post here. I'm just trying to make brownie points. Also one of our fearless leaders is a very intelligent woman in case you've forgotten. Also I recently pissed off Lana so I have to be careful! ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Never Leave A Women In Charge!! Not only is that offensive to me but to every sensitive thinking man everywhere. I note that you didn't say "every other...". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Got this off a f-up list at PC World from a bigger article. Has to be the worst negotiation in history. Damn, I couldn't sleep at night having to wonder what might have been!!Rest of the article is here "Digital Research: The Other Microsoft This one is a classic. In 1980, when IBM was looking for somebody to build a disc operating software for its brand-new IBM PC, Microsoft was not its first choice. In fact, none other than Bill Gates suggested that Big Blue approach Gary Kildall of Digital Research, author of the CP/M operating system. The legend is that Kildall blew IBM off to go fly his plane. The real story is that Kildall was flying to deliver a product to another customer, leaving his wife to negotiate with IBM. Dorothy Kildall didn't like parts of the deal IBM was proposing and sent the executives packing. Big Blue went back to Gates, who with his partner Paul Allen whipped out MS-DOS, based on Tim Paterson's QDOS (the Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was itself based on CP/M. IBM ended up offering both Microsoft's DOS (for $60) and a version of CP/M ($240) to buyers of the original IBM PC. The cheaper product won. Before DOS, Microsoft's biggest products were versions of the BASIC programming tool. After DOS, well...you know the rest. Would Microsoft have grown into the monolith it is today without the IBM contract? We'll never know." How far we have come since DOS. Have we really though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Never Leave A Women In Charge!! Not only is that offensive to me but to every sensitive thinking man everywhere. Its offensive to me too. I think its a good idea to leave women in charge of cooking us up a little meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopsGuy Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Got this off a f-up list at PC World from a bigger article. Has to be the worst negotiation in history. Damn, I couldn't sleep at night having to wonder what might have been!!Rest of the article is here ... Dorothy Kildall didn't like parts of the deal IBM was proposing and sent the executives packing. Big Blue went back to Gates, who with his partner Paul Allen whipped out MS-DOS, based on Tim Paterson's QDOS (the Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was itself based on CP/M. IBM ended up offering both Microsoft's DOS (for $60) and a version of CP/M ($240) to buyers of the original IBM PC. The cheaper product won. ... Ahem... some important parts left out. Dorothy Kildall did what she was supposed to do when IBM presented her with their non-disclosure document: She let her lawyers look over it first. They promptly "puked all over the document" (quoted directly from the PBS documentary "Triumph of the Nerds"). So in reality, she couldn't even begin to talk to IBM about what they were proposing. Good bonus trivia: Tim Paterson sold The QDOS system to Bill & Paul for $50k (Greatest bargain since Manhattan going for $24). All of this happened with no lawsuits because Paterson bought a book containing CP/M source code at a local computer store. Publishing that book was probably more of a blunder than "leaving a woman in charge". And now you know, (some of) the rest of the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Has to be the worst negotiation in history I wouldn't say it's the worst negotiation in history. Selling Manhattan Island for $20 worth of beads and trinkets was worse IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Got this off a f-up list at PC World from a bigger article. Has to be the worst negotiation in history. Damn, I couldn't sleep at night having to wonder what might have been!!Rest of the article is here "Digital Research: The Other Microsoft This one is a classic. In 1980, when IBM was looking for somebody to build a disc operating software for its brand-new IBM PC, Microsoft was not its first choice. In fact, none other than Bill Gates suggested that Big Blue approach Gary Kildall of Digital Research, author of the CP/M operating system. The legend is that Kildall blew IBM off to go fly his plane. The real story is that Kildall was flying to deliver a product to another customer, leaving his wife to negotiate with IBM. Dorothy Kildall didn't like parts of the deal IBM was proposing and sent the executives packing. Big Blue went back to Gates, who with his partner Paul Allen whipped out MS-DOS, based on Tim Paterson's QDOS (the Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was itself based on CP/M. IBM ended up offering both Microsoft's DOS (for $60) and a version of CP/M ($240) to buyers of the original IBM PC. The cheaper product won. Before DOS, Microsoft's biggest products were versions of the BASIC programming tool. After DOS, well...you know the rest. Would Microsoft have grown into the monolith it is today without the IBM contract? We'll never know." At least she could have gone and shagged the guys some coffee until her husband got back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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