Conference 7.286::digital

        According to mail David died last night.                             
                                                                              
        I would suggest a moment of prayer (for those so inclined) for
        David's passing, and for support for his family would be appropriate.
    
     

    
    I hear that David Stone died last night .....
    

From:	NAME: Bob Palmer @MLO               
	FUNC: PRESIDENT AND CEO               
	TEL: 223-6600                         <PALMER.BOB AT PNDVUEA1 at MLMAIL at MLO>
Date:	14-Jan-1994
Posted-date: 14-Jan-1994
Precedence: 1
Subject: David Stone                                                            1
To:     See Below


         PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE THROUGHOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION

       
As some of you may already know, David Stone passed away last night after 
a struggle with a protracted illness.  While David left Digital over a year
ago, I felt it appropriate to send this note because his ideas and person
influenced so many people during his 22 years at Digital.  I know that
there are many at Digital who share my feelings of profound regret at 
David's passing.

Funeral arrangements are being made.  His wife, Pat, asks that no flowers
be sent.  In lieu of flowers, she asks that donations be sent, "in memorial
to David L. Stone" to Compassion International, P.O. Box 7000, Colorado
Springs, Colorado 80933.  David and Pat have supported this group for a
number of years in its mission of supporting needy children around the
world.

For those who would like to send a note of condolence, Pat's address is:

	Pat Stone
	115 Stonefence Road
	Bernardsville, NJ 07924

Bob

From:	TNSG::NIEDERHAUSER "Orson Niederhauser...381-2838...ZKO1-3/B10  14-Jan-1994 1321" 14-JAN-1994 13:29:39.56
To:	@SW_EXTENDED_STAFF,MR4DEC::CASWELL,RDVAX::MURPHY,GVPROD::MERITTO
CC:	MEMIT::MUELLER,MTS$::"mlo::marc chardon",NIEDERHAUSER
Subj:	David Stone - Services & Donations

Tuesday, January 18, 1994:

Visiting hours: 2 - 4 p.m.
	Gallaway & Crane Funeral Home
	101 South Finley Ave.
	Basking Ridge, N.J.
	(908) 766-0250

Memorial Service: 7:30 p.m.
	Millington Babtist Church
	520 King George Road
	Basking Ridge, N.J.
	(908) 647-0594

In lieu of flowers, David requested a donation could be made to:

	Compassion International
	"In memory of DLS"

	Compassion International
	P.O. Box 7000
	Colorado Springs, CO. 80933

Orson

    At an Ultreya meeting on Friday evening in the American Church in
    Geneva, Marietta Dewey mentioned that Pat Stone had rung her during the
    night to let her know that David hast passed away.
    

    
    As a tribute to David, I would like to share the following letter
    I sent him in July shortly after I discovered he was taken ill with
    pancreatic cancer.  His reply, which he sent via the net, is attached.
    It speaks well about what a great human being David was.  Note the 
    fondness which he expresses for Digital people.  
    
    A great human being and visionary has left us.  All of us who had ever 
    been exposed to him were better people for having known him.
    
    Sadly,
    
    
    Bill Slater
    
    
    PS: Permission is granted in advance to forward this.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

  July 13, 1993                         Bill Slater
                                        5 New Haven Drive # 308
                                        Nashua, New Hampshire  03063
                                        Work - 603-884-4953
                                        Home - 603-880-4855
  David Stone
  115 Stone Fence Road
  Bernardsville, New Jersey  07924

  Dear David,

  I learned from the Digital Notes Conference about 6 weeks ago that you had 
  become very ill since you left Digital and moved to New Jersey to work with 
  AT&T.

  Though you and I never met, I have heard you speak in person and on DVN 
  Broadcasts, and I have read your articles about software technology.  I have
  the upmost respect and admiration for your technical, people, and 
  communication abilities.  I was very sad and worried for Digital when I heard
  the news about your leaving us back in November.  I was all the sadder when 
  I learned of your illness.

  I work in an area at Digital which delivers services for client/server 
  projects and WINDOWS NT.  My office is located in Merrimack, NH.

  I wanted to take the time to send you a note to let you know how much you 
  have inspired me as a computer professional.   Since coming to Digital in
  June of 1990, it was YOU and your messages which gave me the greatest
  pride and assurance that Digital's software technology is world-class and 
  in sync with the market.  Your messages about the Information Appliance 
  concept and the MIS Resource "Black Box" are right on the money, and 
  indicate a clear understanding of software and the problems it solves for 
  less technical people.  I took pages and pages of notes during your talk 
  to the IM Symposium in person back in January 1992 in Nashua, NH.  Those 
  notes served to help me keep up with issues affecting my career and 
  the issues surrounding those who are affected by our work.  As always, your
  message was inspiring because of the content, as well as your humanness and 
  your passion about the profession.

  For your scrapbook of "Digital memories", I am enclosing some pictures of
  you from that January 1992 IM Symposium where you decided to model the 
  "NO ORACLE" tee shirt that one of the audience members gave you.  Doing things
  like putting on this tee shirt over your dress shirt with your suit endeared
  you to your colleagues more than you will ever know.

  I am thankful that I was able to work at Digital while you were here and that
  I was on the receiving end of your inspiring talks and messages.  If you ever
  need a friend (and a fan) to talk to, I would welcome a call at one of the 
  numbers listed above.  My card is also enclosed for your files.

  God bless you and your family.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.
 
  Sincerely yours, 



  Bill Slater
    

  PS: Because I know you love the computer career profession I am enclosing 
      a set of notes I took at the 1993 Borland Conference which was held in 
      May in San Francisco.  I have been a Borland software fan since 1985
      and do a lot of PC computing at home.  



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Stone's Reply Via E-mail:


From:	US2RMC::"[email protected]" "David L. Stone" 21-JUL-1993 07:02:45.97
To:	soju::slater
CC:	
Subj:	Your note - July 13th

Bill -

Thanks very much for your very supportive (and flattering) letter.  I 
remember the "Oracle Tee shirt" moment at the IM symposium well.  A great 
audience of people to communicate with! It was people like you (and those) 
that made it very hard for me to leave Digital -- I wish you all the best of 
luck in the "new world".

I talked with Mike Thurk this AM (as part of a Digital Sales Call on me in my 
new job at AT&t) and caught up with some of the current Digital News; lots of 
things going on.

Both Pat and I are doing quite well.  I am working about half time, which 
strangely enough may be even more productive than full time for certain types 
of activities, since it absolutely requires that you get your priorities 
straight. The AT&T people (most old Bell Labs folks in my business) are great 
colleagues and we are fortunate to have a privileged market position at the 
moment in many areas. It will be interesting to see the role of software 
increase here (as it was to see it at Digital).

Again -- thanks for thinking of me and for sending the note, pictures and 
Borland conference review.

Sincerely Yours

David

% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% Received: by us2rmc.bb.dec.com; id AA29378; Wed, 21 Jul 93 07:00:32 -0400
% Received: by inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA29513; Wed, 21 Jul 93 04:02:21 -0700
% Message-Id: <[email protected]>
% From: [email protected] (David L. Stone )
% Date: 20 Jul 93 21:25:21 GMT
% To: soju::slater
% Received: from dlstone by attmail; Wed Jul 21 10:58:38 GMT 1993
% Subject: Your note - July 13th
% Content-Type: Text

    
    

  
   Greetings Colleagues:

   Attached is an excerpt of a trip report I did two years ago on the 
   Digital IM Symposium which was held in January 1992.  This report is
   significant because it contains David Stone's comments.  His assessment
   of where the software industry was and where it was going were very
   revealing.  Despite the fact that this information is now two years old, 
   most of it is as relevent as this month's computer industry magazines.

   I hope you can appreciate David Stone's insights a little better after
   reading this.

   Regards,


   Bill

    
    PS: Permission is granted in advance to re-post and/or distribute this.
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Date        :  February 5, 1992
    To          :  The Boss
    From        :  Bill Slater
   
    Subject     :  Trip Report - The 1992 DB/TP/EU IM Symposium

   I attended the 1992 DB/TP/EU IM Symposim from 1/19 - 1/24 in Nashua, NH.

   This was my second DB/TP/EU IM Symposium, and found it to be a very
   informative and rewarding experience.  I mailed back 28 pounds of papers
   and handouts to my home and I plan to disseminate these to our group
   as soon as I receive them.

   Though I have included a copious amount of comments from the Digital
   software VP, David Stone, I think you will find about 90% worth reading
   and thinking about.  Stone is not only a very powerful, intelligent man
   at Digital, the man is an extremely articulate visionary, who is very
   mindful of where we are, where we are hopefully headed, and all the
   factors which influence our profession.

   The highlight of the conference was David Stone's address to the entire
   group on Wednesday morning.  Stone as you know is the VP of Software at
   Digital.  He spoke for about 30 minutes and answered questions for about
   30 minutes.  Some of the more interesting things that Stone covered were
   1) that Digital is "unifying our software product strategy", 2) that he
   has "taken heat" for supporting Rdb/VMS, but continues to do so because
   he believes in it, 3) we must realize that "nobody in their right mind
   really wants to buy wants to buy things like a database management system,
   rather, they want to buy the things it can do".  Another interesting
   concept that he described is the fact that more and more senior level
   managers are viewing the "product" that our profession produces as the
   "information utility" which is something that they want to be able to just
   "plug in to" just as you can take an appliance or electrical device and
   plug it into the electric wall socket of a building.  Stone also said that
   often when he describes a software package to Jack Smith and other members
   of the executive committee, their response will be, "Okay, what side of the
   plug does it go on?", which is to infer, from what perspective to I view
   this?

   Stone also had some other comments that were both visionary and that will
   definitely have an effect on how we do business.  He had just been in the
   executive meeting in which drastic measures to make Digital profitable
   again were being discussed.  He said that responsibility for all Digital
   software had just been placed under him.  This include VAX/VMS.  He also
   told us of plans to have a "Unified Product Strategy" because the upper
   level corporate executives have decided that we have too many small products
   which are not as well-focused as the main products we have, and the cost
   of maintenance and development of these products is "nickel and diming us
   to death". 

   Other Stone comments from the Symposium :

     Due to "Commoditization" (hardware and software becoming a commodity
     that can be purchased from the lowest bidder), unless you have a
     significant market share for a given software product, you will NOT
     be profitable.

     A new concept in understanding software is the category of what is
     known as "middleware".  This would include any package that is between
     the operating system and the actual application package you are running
     such as communications software, database management systems, SQL
     Services, etc.

     Time to design, develop, and market a new software product is VERY
     critical.  Why?  Because statistically speaking, the life-time for
     the high margin profit on a new software package is four years at
     a maximum, but in some cases it is as short as two years.

     He recommended that we all read the article, "The Computerless
     Computer Company" in the June 91 issue of Harvard Business Review.
     He said that many of the trends which are discussed in that article
     are already taking place in the computer industry, and that many
     of the concepts he was covering can be found in that article.

     From a hardware perspective, we lost money in FY 91.

     The profit margin on operating systems in FY 91 was 30%.

     The profit margin for layered software products in FY 91

     In the past we were using other software companies to leverage our
     hardware sales.  Now we must use become profitable using own software
     and sales strategies.

     Microsoft is a real leader in software - they are a virtual monopoly
     in the PC world, and they are now the largest software company in the
     world.  We would do well to study how they did it and what makes them
     successful.

     The top 10 Digital software products, in terms of sales volume, make
     50% of the software revenue for the company.

     People don't want to buy drills, they want holes.  If I could just sell
     holes, I could put all the drill-makers out of business.

     Customers want shared risk, with the computer vendor sharing part of the
     risk of failing.

     Nature abhors a profit.

     Under capitalism, your competition controls you.

     In 1991 the big trend was toward "open systems".

     In 1992 the big trend will be toward "object-oriented" programming and
     databases.

     Ken Olsen told Stone that, "The most important corporate asset in this
     company is the Field Consultant Community.


                           Software Across Three Decades
     ________________________________________________________________________
 Category        70s                       80s                         90s

 Trend       Islands of           Networked, Departmental         Open Computing
             Automation           Systems and PCs                 (Standards)

 Most Impor- Efficiency           Effectiveness                   Flexibility
 tant Issue

 Emphasized  Faster, automate     What's the right thing          Accelerate
             existing process     to do                           innovation



-------------------------------- End Of Stone's Notes --------------------------
    
    

    ... and HP has embraced the Information Utility vision as an organizing
    principle for its own self-promotion. Lew Platt of HP professes this
    vision publicly every chance he gets, while using it internally to 
    keep people focused on the differences in behavior to support commodity
    businesses and systems businesses. Though customers will likely
    attribute the Information Utility paradigm to HP rather than to David 
    Stone (as they do 'commercial Unix*' and 'client server computing') 
    at least it relieves us of doing a massive education campaign.
    /L

From:	GYPSIE::MUELLER       4-FEB-1994 16:22:53.05
To:	BOOKIE::EPPES
CC:	MUELLER
Subj:	Please forward!!!


               ***********************************************
	       * PLEASE FORWARD THROUGHOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION *
	       ***********************************************

		      Memorial Service for David Stone

As you may know, David Stone passed away on Thursday, January 13th. Many
people who knew David from his years here at Digital were not able to
attend the services held in his memory in New Jersey the week after his
death.

To give David's friends and acquaintances from Digital an opportunity to
say good-bye, there will be a memorial service for him on Friday, February
18th, 1994 from 3:00-4:30 in the Spitbrook facility in Nashua, New
Hampshire. His wife, Pat, his brother Sandy, and his daughter Katherine
will join us.

Please send mail to MEMIT::MUELLER by Friday, February 11th if you wish to
attend. We would like to hold the service in a more personal setting, and
have booked the Babbage Auditorium. However, we have also provisionally
booked a room at the Sheraton Tara in Nashua in case the Babbage turns out
to be too small for the number of people wishing to attend. Mail will
be sent out on Monday, February 14th, to let those planning to attend know 
where it is being held.