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Serving the Suits
Here's a place to post your thoughts about the video today called Serving the suits. Thanks again to those of you who lately have made this a much improved online experience.
Here's a couple of interesting quotes from the film:
It's in the connecting of the computer that's so powerful, that allows for so much more.
Free to reproduce, free to distribute, anywhere, there is something incredible about the economics of software.
Instead of 10 Billion they had to settle with 100 million (poor souls!)
Posted by Mark Hemphill on November 23, 2004 | Permalink
Comments
I said it before, when we watched the first part of this movie, but after watching the second half today, I will say it again. These people were brilliant. I mean the way these guys were able to predict what the future was going to be like and design what I feel almost shapes our lives today, is amazing. It was also very interesting to see just how dedicated these people were to their work. One guy saying that he was working 110 hours per week at one point..incredible, christ there is only 168 hours in a week! And as for the girl getting fired from Cisco I believe, yeah it's pretty hard to feel sorry for her when she has 100 million in the bank!
Posted by: Steve MacLeod | Nov 23, 2004 10:09:03 PM
The video today was fairly enlightening. But I think all of those rich guys saying they knew everything about what was going to happen in the future maybe is a little bit of a tall tale. I think they're just the ones that happened to get lucky on the business venture they went into. Besides that I had no idea that venture capitalist played such a large role in getting most technology based businesses started. They were pretty careful about who they gave their money to, and from what the video showed they often didn;t seem to make many mistakes. But again they tried to make it look like the capitalists didn;t make any wrong decisions either. Some ideas it may be obvious that they are going to be big, but not all of them.
Posted by: Travis Norton | Nov 23, 2004 10:23:34 PM
The video provided alot of information on those companies that developed the technologies that have such an influence on our technologies today, and our lives! I thought it was really interesting to see how some of them started, or their interactions between each other, like with Microsoft, IBM, and 3Com. From what I got, it seemed like Microsoft was a bit of a double-crosser? Is this correct? I wasn't surprised how much venture capitalists funded companies, however I was surprised to see how they took over the companies, like in the case of Cisco Systems. It showed how risky financing through this method is. Overall, I found this video much more interesting than the first one. I really didn't see the point of the animal farm at the beginning, or other parts of the film similar to that, like the part about outer space? They seemed so off-topic, and made me take the video less seriously.
Posted by: Megan Killorn | Nov 23, 2004 11:01:28 PM
The video we watched today was actually interesting, it showed me how everything we take for granted today was made and where it came from. I was amazed that some nerds went from having nothing but their smarts to billions of dollars in only a short time. I found it funny how the founders who invented the router dont' even own the rights any more. The wife was fired and the the husband sold his shares for when the company was worth 1 billion. But now the company is worth 60 million dollars. Something I didn't know was that Microsoft and IBM were once partners. But then Microsoft joined with 3com and then eventually screwed 3com over by taking 3coms customers behind their backs. And I wonder what all the people who said NO to all the nerds who became big are thinking now????
Posted by: Justin Bradley | Nov 23, 2004 11:36:11 PM
I think it's a good thing that these people were around back in the 70's and 80's or we wouldn't have the networking capabilities that we have today. There was obviously alot of controversy over teaming up with other companies and just battling to get grants from the corporate investors. It's hard to believe that companies that betrayed each other could still exist today, and that even the ones that actually got betrayed could still stay around. Microsoft seems like an evil monster, but it worked for them! But anyway, overall it was a good film and it showed that anyone with an idea and that can get a little money to get off the ground can make it big. - Matt
*On a side note... Did anyone else expect the head of Cisco to start slurping like Hannibal Lector??... He was just a little strange.
Posted by: Matt Praught | Nov 24, 2004 12:00:25 AM
I just wanted to say that I really liked the movie today in class. It made me wish I was around back in the 70s and 80s when the internet was coming to life. Most days I don't even think about where the internet came from, I only wonder how it is going to help me on my next assignment. I too didn't really know that investment capitalists played such a large role in the whole thing. I just wish I could have gotten my hands on some of the money made.
Posted by: Jonathan Fenton | Nov 24, 2004 12:31:00 AM
I really liked this movie. It was more interesting than the first video we watched. I liked when it told the story of the husband and wife at the end of the movie. "How did you come up with a price?" "Well.... We guessed" I thought that they did a pretty god job relying on a lot of luck to build a large idea, too ba dit was taken away from them.
Posted by: Kris McKearney | Nov 24, 2004 1:09:18 AM
The video was very funny at times. It showed us how networking started from its initial beginnings and how it became to be a major part of our computing lives. Microsoft really surprised me a lot. You wouldn't think a nerd (ie. Bill Gates) would be so double crossing. He just gives off the persona that all he really cares about is the technoligy being created, however, he actually does care about his gigantic fortune. I found it funny how the couple got screwed over by the Venture Capitalist. The wife seemed like a nice person who knew what she was doing, but the husband was kind of different. He obviously the brains behind the technical portion of the project, but I would say for social skills he ranks awfully low. All in all it was a very informative tape and the host of the video if very corny, which makes watching it all the more easier.
Posted by: Blake Crockett | Nov 24, 2004 9:16:47 AM
I liked this video better than the first one. This was more interesting, and it was constructed better than the first one because the first one jumped around a lot. It is truly amazing how many companies started in houses, and basement. Looking at those companies today, I can’t imagine them starting the way they did. I looked around the class a couple of times and I noticed that everyone was paying attention.
Posted by: Kevin Bernard | Nov 24, 2004 10:07:20 AM
i have my doubts on the video we watched, granted every one else who commented so far liked it, but i think it was still sorta boring. They really didn't expand much on how they did it and made the progresses in the sense of technology, but focused more on how it became from an entreprenuers perspective, which would be great in an entrepreneurs class detail wise. But hey in the end, we still got to watch a movie in class which was still a pleasant break from the norm.
Posted by: David Chapman | Nov 24, 2004 10:23:02 AM
I enjoyed this video much more than the first one as well. It was interesting to learn about the technological side of things, but I found even more intersting to learn about the financing behind these technologies. I think it's great that these people put so much time and effort into thier projects despite rejection from financing companies. Obviously working out of your living room for 110 hours a week has payed off, from both a tangible and intangible perspective. The tangible side being the financial rewards receieved by the founders of these companies, and the intangible rewards being the knowledge that you have created something that has changed the way that millions of people worldwide do business and communicate.
Posted by: Kati McCarvill | Nov 24, 2004 10:30:53 AM
I enjoyed this movie a lot more than the first one. It was quite interesting and its always funny to see movies from back then. There were some very interesting topics that they showed, particularly the one about the Cisco owners. I don't know about anyone else, but that guy freaked me out! I am really glad that these people were around back then because if they weren't we wouldn't be doing this today! So congratulations to them all, and I can't wait to keep on seeing what the computer geniuses of today come up with!
Posted by: Angela Smith | Nov 24, 2004 10:51:49 AM
I will take a video over a class lecture any day. I have taken a number of classes and sometimes a professor can say the same things over and over again and a person will just not take it in. With a video at least you are visualizing it.
I thought the video was good in the sense that it gave you a perspective of where all this computer stuff came from. When you have been born in this computer age you don't even think of what it was like before they exsisted. The film was a great resource in developing a sense of how we got to where we are today.
I was also pleased to have a take home crit. I must say there are not too many proffessors out there that reward students for participating, besides maybe some class marks. Great idea Mark!!!
Posted by: Tracey Gallant | Nov 24, 2004 11:29:58 AM
This second section to the video was more interesting than the first. It is cool to see how these people had an idea, then developed it, and now live comfortably. A prime example is the man in Maine who has a farm, but just farms for something to do. I bet a lot of farmers on PEI would love to have this feeling. Some of these people had to have luck on their side as well to become this rich, case in point that man in woman where they basically guessed a price.
I would like to thank Mark for that take home crit and making it worth 20%. I felt that I learned more by actually surfing the net looking for answers and trying to explain them in my own words than trying to do an inclass crit.
Posted by: Allan MacKinnon | Nov 24, 2004 12:24:23 PM
The video is good at simplifing the time the events happened and putting them in perspective. The content of the movie was very good. It is interesting to see how important timing was when these events were unfolding and how competitive and innovative these businesses had to be in order to compete. The amount of entrepreneurship that the individuals had and the genious of their abilities to recognise a need or potential in something that was completely different from anything else developed before and start implimenting a business and strategy to fill these needs was very impressive to me. I think that the implimentation of the power of the internet and networking was the most impressive thing that has ever occured in the world of technology and these people and companies who developed it deserve all of the fortunes that they have made off of this technology because of how important it is and has become to our whole way of life.
Posted by: Mike | Nov 24, 2004 12:27:04 PM
I found this video more interesting then the first one.
I feel that is gave a good business perspective on how these organizations started. How these entrepreneurs never gave up on their idea and thanks to them look at what where we are today with some of their technological inventions. I also didn't realize that IBM and Microsoft had a partnership in the past.
Posted by: Tanya Goodwin | Nov 24, 2004 12:39:22 PM
I agree, this video was much more interesting then the first. It was a little funny how the founder of Cisco had no personality whatsoever and then he ended up working for a company on extraterristrials. I found that a little strange since he seemed to be pretty smart, but had no real emotion to his work.
Posted by: Jeremy MacEwen | Nov 24, 2004 12:58:25 PM
I liked this video more than the last one. I think I got more out of it. Maybe that is because of the business aspects of the film. Its seems like such a dog-eat-dog world out there in the computer industry, and obviously microsoft is a pit bull. Its too bad that some of the creators of these businesses get forced out of them after they hit it big time. I guess that is the way the business world works, always about the bottom dollar.
I wouldn't want to deal with the Venture Capitalists too much, they seem like, as one person stated, "sharks". Plus I'm not big on being a brown-noser, which also seems like a needed attribute for one of their meetings. Its too bad that they can make or break your dreams. Oh well, money doesn't grow on trees!
But overall, an interesting look at the behind the scenes dealings of these mega-companies. It goes to show that luck and business sense can be more important than possessing invention and innovation skills.
Posted by: Ryan Quinn | Nov 24, 2004 1:15:11 PM
I hated the first part of the video, but this one was better. It didn't focus, as much, on the host trying to be funny. It was more business oriented than technology oriented so I guess that's probably what made the difference for me. I thought the tips about venture capitalists were interesting - I had no idea you could actually get fired from your own company. It sounds like theft of intellectual property to me.
Posted by: Willy | Nov 24, 2004 2:03:15 PM
Well, same as I said for the first part... It is SO OUTDATED! It was informative, and quite interesting though. They are such bright and creative people! It was really interesting to me how some people and universities wanted nothing to do with it. I bet they regret that decision now! I just don't really understand why they show some of the stuff... like driving around? and biking? it just didn't seem to really fit in so well.
Posted by: Amy McKie | Nov 24, 2004 2:03:50 PM
One thing that I found very interesting about the movie was the couple who were fired after they were the ones that founded the company. Because last year in business 101, my prof, Tim Carroll told us about them so it was kind of neat to see them and hear their story. As he put it they were just two computer geeks that didn't know anything about running a business!
Posted by: Jennifer Carr | Nov 24, 2004 2:36:18 PM
I enjoyed the second half of this movie much more then the first half. I'd like to know if any inndustry has even grown as fast as the computer industry in the 1980's. It is cool to see the multi-billionaires of these companies so down to earth when comparing them to what you may think a CEO of the biggest companies in the world are like. I would like to know the actual story on what microsoft is really like. It seems like they are always being portrayed as the bad guy and I wonder how much of it is true?
Posted by: Jamie Waddell | Nov 24, 2004 2:43:09 PM
I found this video once it got going, to be very informative. I always wondered what was involved when some technology companies say that they had to go to venture capitalists to get money to start their companies. Now that I know what they do and what's involved, I doubt I would be interested in having venture capitalists involved in my company. I could never live with working really hard and pouring all of my blood sweat and tears into a company where the venture capitalists would get most of the profit and be able to fire me.
It was also interesting to see where companies that are currently worth billions of dollars got their start. I really never stopped to think about Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems being small. These companies have just always been large companies for me. All in all this video put some perspective on the kind of money you can earn if you invent the next greatly needed computer technology.
Posted by: Heather Schubert | Nov 24, 2004 3:00:34 PM
That movie wasn't so bad. I think that the founders of all of those companies were taking huge risks. They made it sound like it was a walk in the park (after all was said and done). They must have had a lot of sleepless nights to get to where they are today.
Posted by: Darla | Nov 24, 2004 3:13:33 PM
I thought that this part of the movie was more interesting than the first. Although I didn't learn a whole lot from it, it was amazing to know the risks that these people made to create the world that we know today. It is inconceivable to me that a human being could create something as complex as a computer and the web. My hat goes off to those people.
Posted by: Jennifer Jeffery | Nov 24, 2004 3:17:10 PM
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