| Title: | The Digital way of working |
| Moderator: | QUARK::LIONEL ON |
| Created: | Fri Feb 14 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 5321 |
| Total number of notes: | 139771 |
Nary a flinch from Palmer as CNN correspondent signed off "...with Robert
Palmer of DEC"
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5183.1 | sneakin' thru the alley with sally | ALFSS1::AJACKSON | Wed Mar 12 1997 02:06 | 3 | |
Actually, I was surfing for Jay Leno, with musical guest Robert
Palmer...
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| 5183.2 | Simply Irresistable- She's so fine, there's no telling where the money went... | SUBSYS::BAILLIE | Come on, who threw that stone? | Wed Mar 12 1997 08:58 | 6 |
If possible could someone enter the text of the interview or give a pointer to it. thanx jb | |||||
| 5183.3 | POWDML::TNELSON | The Song Remains The Same | Wed Mar 12 1997 10:06 | 4 | |
I caught part of it when I was flipping the channels... Did anybody
notice anything odd about Bob when he was talking???
tn
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| 5183.4 | BIGQ::SILVA | http://www.ziplink.net/~glen/decplus/ | Wed Mar 12 1997 10:19 | 3 | |
Did he have a hair or two out of place? | |||||
| 5183.5 | Moneyline with Lou Dobbs - | FOUNDR::SKABO | Expect Nothing U never disappointed | Wed Mar 12 1997 10:23 | 303 |
For the full report see: http://cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/9703/11/mlld.00.html
Moneyline with Lou Dobbs
Financial News for March 11, 1997
Aired March 11, 1997 - 7:00 p.m. ET
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight on "MONEYLINE," one
day after hitting the 14th record high of the
year, the Dow Jones Industrials set a new record
-- the 15th. Blue chips, where Fidelity's Magellan
fund is putting its billions of dollars, moving
solidly out of bonds. And my guest tonight is
navigating big changes at Digital Equipment --
DEC's chairman and chief executive officer, Robert
Palmer, my guest, tonight. Also joining me
tonight, a man who's charting big changes on Wall
Street -- Reverend Jesse Jackson.
ANNOUNCER: Live, from the world's financial
capitol, New York City. This is "MONEYLINE" with
Lou Dobbs.
JACKSON: Thank you.
<skiped other interview...>
DOBBS: Coming up next here, we're going to take a
look at DEC. Digital Equipment is betting there's
money to be made on-line, a penny at a time. DEC
chairman, chief executive officer, Robert Palmer
is my guest next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, on Wall Street, blue chips ended
higher to a new record for the Dow. The Dow,
tonight, at 7085.16 -- a gain of more than 15 and
three-quarter points. And that, again, a new
record for the Dow. More than 493 million shares
were traded. Advancing issues beating out
decliners by a narrow margin. The composite down
.64. The S & P fell 2.31. The Dow Transports fell
back after five straight records, losing 1.85,
today. The Utilities fell 1.40 with that weaker
bond. The NASDAQ composite at 1316.76, losing
almost 6 points on volume of almost 574 million
shares. The American Exchange composite closed at
603.43, down .20 on volume of 19 1/2 million
shares.
Tonight's "MONEYLINE movers led by Tessco
Technologies, which tumbled to almost 40 percent
in price. The wireless equipment company warning
of a weak fourth quarter after losing a major
client. First Citizens Financial up 3 7/8.
Provident Bankshares buying the company -- paying
$100 million. Unison Healthcare dropping 46
percent in price. The company restating earnings
sharply lower for the first nine months of last
year. The company offered no explanation. Boeing
up $2 a share. The "Wall Street Journal" reported
in its -- reporting in its talks with Delta to be
the exclusive supplier of jetliners. Both
companies confirmed they are in talks, but did not
elaborate. Delta up 1 1/8 on the day.
Digital Equipment in the midst of a challenging
turnaround, cutting costs in an effort to boost
its bottom line. DEC's latest earnings down 79
percent from a year ago. Its stock is suffering as
well -- down more than 50 percent over the past
year -- closing today at $32 a share. But DEC
remains confident in its strategy, that includes
building its internet business. Today, unveiling
its on-line system: Millicent. Joining us now from
our Los Angeles studios, DEC chairman and chief
executive officer, Robert Palmer. Good to have you
with us.
ROBERT PALMER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, DIGITAL EQUIPMENT
COMPANY: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: Let me ask you at the outset -- you've seen
the number of set backs here over the past year.
How much progress do you judge that you're making?
PALMER: I think the company is making great
progress. We've been involved in this turnaround,
as you know, for a new years. And I believe we've
made the right investments and positioned our
company for growth in the future.
DOBBS: Now, Millicent -- explain that strategy, if
you will, Bob, and what it's going to bring DEC?
PALMER: This is a new technology that enables
micro-transactions over the internet -- commercial
transactions that heretofore haven't been possible
to execute. It's a technology that would make it
possible, for example, for a person to buy a
single recipe rather than an entire cookbook and
pay for it in very small amounts. Let's say even
fractions of a penny up to as much as five
dollars. It's a system that would enable a wide
variety of commercial activities, that I said,
previously aren't possible.
DOBBS: Now, one of the problems that your company
has had is in the PC business. Give us an update
on where you are now.
PALMER: We're doing well there. Our PC problems
last year are widely publicized, but under the
leadership of Bruce Klaflen (ph), who's the vice
president responsible, we were able to turn that
business around and break into the black in the
quarter ended in December which was our objective,
but a difficult task.
DOBBS: The -- a difficult task. How do you judge
the health of the PC market and your own share of
it?
PALMER: I think it's a very healthy market and in
looking at the PC market, you can segregate it
into a variety of different market segments.
Certainly for digital, the market segment that's
most important is the server market, and in that
market, we're growing very robustly in double
digits and it looks very bright for us.
DOBBS: In terms of the PC market and your movement
now, with an internet product, where do you see
your future growth? Can you orient us a bit in
terms of the...
PALMER: Well, there are many opportunities -- many
opportunities for future growth. But as you
mentioned, the internet is one of those. We think
the internet is going to become the universal
computing platform. And Digital is exceptionally
well positioned to help customers take advantage
of internet technology. So, we see that as a
driver for growth. Also, the move to Windows NT.
Microsoft is a strategic alliance partner of
Digital. We have an excellent relationship there,
and we're winning a lot of new business as Windows
NT gains acceptance in the market place.
DOBBS: Your stock price, today as I mentioned at
the outset, Bob, $32 a share. How quickly do you
think you'll be able to turn that around and what
do you think Wall Street is looking for?
PALMER: Well, I've learned not to make forecasts,
certainly, of stock prices. You know, in calendar
year '95, the stock was up 92 percent, and as you
mentioned in calender year'96, we gave back half
of that or more. Certainly, we'd like to see the
stock performing better. I think it's up to
management to do a better job of consistent
earnings and consistent improvement in earnings.
DOBBS: Do you think that Wall Street will accept
nothing less? Wall Street is reacting, in some
cases violently, to even the slightest earnings
disappointments on the part of technology
companies. Has their attitude toward technology
companies changed? What's your view?
PALMER: I think -- I think with respect to
Digital, we've had exceptionally fair treatment by
the analysts that follow the industry. I think
they recognize the enormity of the challenge that
we faced when we began our transformation. And I
think that they understand the progress that we're
making. Many of them do see that we've been a
leader in 64 bit computing, which will be
important as the internet grows and they see that
we've made the right investments. They'd like to
see better earnings and so would I.
DOBBS: In terms of organizing the company and
really you're in a situation where you are turning
the company around, obviously, job cut-backs in
stock, how significant are the changes that await
your company?
PALMER: We have most of that behind us. I would
say at least 90 percent of the restructuring that
we envisioned is behind us. There's very little of
that going forward, although there's still some
around the world. You know, we do business in 100
countries and we're still -- but at the same time
we're losing a few jobs, we're also hiring
aggressively in new techniques and new
technologies to support our internet and our
Windows NT, and 64-bit Unix. And so there's a lot
of dynamics actually in the business. I think
we're well positioned to grow in the future and we
feel confident about the future. DOBBS: You're key
noting at Internet World, tomorrow morning, as a
matter of fact, can you give us a bit of a preview
of what you're going to say?
PALMER: Yes. I'm really looking forward it. I'm
privileged to be the opening key note, as you
mentioned, tomorrow, at internet world. It's the
largest show of its kind. It's focused on the
internet and on content providers and systems
manufacturers. And it's a fun thing for me,
because it gives me an opportunity to talk about
our vision of where the internet is going, and
what the role is of systems companies, such as
Digital, in providing the infrastructure and the
support and the services that will make it
possible for people to take advantage of this
phenomenon. And it is a phenomenon.
DOBBS: OK, Bob, thanks for being with us. Robert
Palmer, the chief executive office of DEC. Good
luck, thank you.
PALMER: Thank you.
DOBBS: Coming up next, Myron Kandel. He won't be
here to talk about technology. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, Myron Kandel is back with me now.
He's had a two week vacation; he's rested and
refreshed and Myron, that doesn't necessarily
translate to great market optimism.
MYRON KANDEL, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm cautious, Lou,
but as you may recall, I turned cautious about 600
points ago. So...
DOBBS: Well, you're in awfully good company in
terms of concern about this market. What has you
concerned about it now -- refreshed as you are?
KANDEL: Well, you know, I'm not that worried about
the Fed. Although I think there was some figures
out today that would catch Alan Greenspan's
attention, and that's the rise in labor costs.
Unit labor costs which were revised sharply
upward. The previous figure for the fourth
quarter's 1.4 percent. They revised it up to 2 1/2
percent.
DOBBS: But you know the extraordinary thing about
worrying about unit labor cost to me, is -- labor
-- a unit of production is not supposed to go up
while other units for production do. That's sort
of an extraordinary piece of reasoning in the
economic discipline, isn't it?
KANDEL: Well, that goes back to your economic
studies at Harvard. But on Wall Street, they sort
of got it mixed up these days.
DOBBS: These days.
KANDEL: Right.
DOBBS: They don't have much mixed up these days
with this Dow sitting at just under 7100.
KANDEL: You know, they're really bashing Greenspan
because of his comments about an irrational...
DOBBS: ...exuberance.
KANDEL: ...exuberance and so on.
DOBBS: We're going to have to quit with exuberance
tonight because we're out of time.
KANDEL: OK.
DOBBS: It's great to have you back from vacation.
You were about to make a forecast. We're out of
time.
KANDEL: Caution.
DOBBS: Caution, that's your forecast?
KANDEL: Right.
DOBBS: Myron, we got to get you back in the --
back and work you harder. OK, that's it from
Myron. "Caution" is the watch word. That's the
bottom line. Good night from New York.
� 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
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| 5183.6 | Mucho blinko | PTOSS1::BREZLER | Wed Mar 12 1997 10:24 | 2 | |
Actually, he was blinking very much. Must have been tired eyes from the
time change and the contact lens.
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| 5183.7 | good .. but can be better if ... | 33102::JAUNG | Wed Mar 12 1997 10:35 | 20 | |
I've watched part of it ( around 7:25 pm EST). His manners is good.
The content he talked about mostly can be seen in his DVN speeches such as
Digital's (or his) vision on Internet, 64-bit technology, commitment to
NT and UNIX... I did not hear anything about OpenVMS. He also
emphasized our "Strategic" alliance with Microsoft. When he was asked
about downsizing, he paused for a few microseconds and then said 95%
has been done ( If I remember correctly) he also added that we are
hiring people aggressively. I am glad that when he was asked about
the poor performance of our stock, he did not use any excuses but
saying our performance will bring it up.
I have to admit that I am not able to perform the same level as he did
in front of the national TV audience. However, maybe my expectation is
unfairly too high or maybe he did but I've missed, I do expect for
a person in his position and in such a rare opportunity he should've
mentioned our talented engineering resources as well as other leading-edge
technology (e.g. Clustering, Firewalls,...ect) and ... emhemmm... OpenVMS.
In addition, he should address our commitment to improve customer service
to meet better satisfaction which is (IMHO) the main factor that our
customer left us for other vendors.
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| 5183.8 | POWDML::TNELSON | The Song Remains The Same | Wed Mar 12 1997 11:12 | 5 | |
I think blinking very much is putting it kindly.... It looked like a
short circuit, it was actually distracting while watching him. You know
what they say about someone who blinks alot while they talk.....
tn
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| 5183.9 | 13058::WESTERVELT | PLAY AT MAX VOLUME | Wed Mar 12 1997 11:15 | 7 | |
When the president of the company has a national television
audience and chooses not to mention OpenVMS, I think that's
a pretty clear message about its future.
Tom
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| 5183.10 | nervous, who me? | NETCAD::CREEGAN | Wed Mar 12 1997 11:34 | 6 | |
When someone blinks alot it usually (IMHO) means
they are very nervous. A good example of that is
when a newcaster's whose first night on the news
(Lester Strong comes to mind), they blink a lot.
They are scared and nervous. At least he kept his
voice from shaking, right?
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| 5183.11 | Thanks for the transcript, btw | SMURF::PSH | Per Hamnqvist, UNIX/ATM | Wed Mar 12 1997 11:44 | 5 |
Blinking your eyes could also mean that you are nervous. Being nervous can also make you forget to say important things. Don't read too much into no mention about OpenVMS. >Per | |||||
| 5183.12 | this isn't the first time | CSC32::M_EVANS | be the village | Wed Mar 12 1997 11:57 | 6 |
If OVMS wasn't continually being treated as the redhaired baby, one
lack of mention wouldn't be so bad. But OVMS has been consistantly
forgotten, added in as an afterthought, or oopsed when it is pointed
out in press and employee information releases.
meg
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| 5183.13 | STAR::KLEINSORGE | Frederick Kleinsorge | Wed Mar 12 1997 12:01 | 25 | |
Amen. Bright lights, nerves, blinking eyes. It doesn't have to have
some sinister meaning, like he's lying. If Bob's primary job were to
read the news on TV, or run for public office, I'd recommend he work
on the problem (it didn't help Bob "Blinky" Dole).
It's like the people who give him shit about his Porche. Heck, if *I*
made over a million a year, *I'd* own one, and try and keep it clean
and scratch free.
Demonizing Bob won't make things better, or be an appropriate way to
lay blame (like the 3 envelopes). The stock performance, revenue
decline, profit decline, employee population decline (both forced and
attrition), repetetive restructuring, and perceived lack of leadership
(real or imagined) are better things to focus on, in terms of praising
or knocking Mr. Palmer.
As to the non-mention of OpenVMS... the focus of the interview was
Millicent, and by extension the Internet, and he was asked directly
about the PC business which had been highlighted by it's visible
decline. When OpenVMS becomes more than a footnote in the strategy,
then I would expect some mention of it. Or when Galaxies gets it's 15
minutes of fame.
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| 5183.14 | 13058::WESTERVELT | PLAY AT MAX VOLUME | Wed Mar 12 1997 13:06 | 20 | |
> As to the non-mention of OpenVMS... the focus of the interview was
> Millicent, and by extension the Internet, and he was asked directly
> about the PC business which had been highlighted by it's visible
> decline.
He also said the server market is the most important for Digital.
> When OpenVMS becomes more than a footnote in the strategy,
> then I would expect some mention of it.
Exactly the point; the message is being put out clearly and
consistently. The future is internet & Windows NT, and 64-bit Unix.
The argument can be made that Affinity = Windows NT and that therefore
OpenVMS actually does fit in with and support our NT strategy. I guess
the question is whether Affinity is a long term solution or a stop gap
measure.
Tom
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| 5183.15 | STAR::KLEINSORGE | Frederick Kleinsorge | Wed Mar 12 1997 13:19 | 10 | |
re: .14 exactly. I'm not arguing the merits of the direction, only
that Bob was entirely consistant with the message. I do not believe
that there has been any acknoledgement that OpenVMS is anything except
a footnote in the strategy, or that Affinity is more than a way to hold
the VMS customer base.
You can argue that OpenVMS + Affinity is a better strategy than 1-3-9,
but it clearly isn't more than a footnote in it as it stands.
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| 5183.16 | Millicent: the internet pep show | STAR::jacobi.zko.dec.com::jacobi | Paul A. Jacobi - OpenVMS Systems Group | Wed Mar 12 1997 13:20 | 14 |
>>> PALMER: This is a new technology that enables >>> micro-transactions over the internet -- commercial >>> transactions that heretofore haven't been possible >>> to execute. It's a technology that would make it >>> possible, for example, for a person to buy a >>> single recipe rather than an entire cookbook and >>> pay for it in very small amounts. Recipes?!?! Oh! Sure! Wink, Wink, know what I mean! I've noticed a hugh growth in internet sites devoted to exchanging "recipes". -Paul | |||||
| 5183.17 | INDYX::ram | Ram Rao, PBPGINFWMY | Wed Mar 12 1997 14:07 | 5 | |
> Or when Galaxies gets it's 15 minutes of fame.
What is Galaxies?
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| 5183.18 | PHXSS1::HEISER | Maranatha! | Wed Mar 12 1997 14:10 | 3 | |
|What is Galaxies?
a large assemblage of stars, nebulae, and interstellar gas and dust.
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| 5183.19 | Heard on the radio... | TALLIS::PARADIS | There's a feature in my soup! | Wed Mar 12 1997 14:10 | 6 |
Last night on NPR's "marketplace" they had a whole story on
Millicent, including an interview with Bob Supnik. Very well
done, in my opinion. For once it showed Digital as a company
*anticipating* a major change in the way people use computers,
rather than playing catch-up.
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| 5183.20 | Cluster in a box | STAR::PARKE | Sometimes pigeon, Sometimes statue | Wed Mar 12 1997 14:10 | 7 |
Re: .17
Galaxies - sometimes refered to as "Cluster in a box". It will allow
configuring such as a 32 CPU Alphaserver as an 8 node
OpenVMS Cluster with 4 cpu's in each "node".
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| 5183.21 | STAR::KLEINSORGE | Frederick Kleinsorge | Wed Mar 12 1997 14:42 | 9 | |
Actually, there is a computerworld article floating around that
contains a mix of accurate and inaccurate information.
Galaxies is a software architecture that will allow efficient use of
large memories, and many CPUs... the next step beyond Clusters, and
around SMP scaling issues.
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| 5183.22 | Let's take this in context | KYOSS1::FEDOR | Leo | Wed Mar 12 1997 15:06 | 11 |
Likely the interview was in concert with the introduction of
Millicent at Internet World, intended to be nothing more. When you
have 5 minutes *only* to get your message across and no more you deal
with what you have to and get this message across. BP is more than a good
presenter, the visibility doesn't hurt.
<moderate flame> I wish that more than a few could see past all
those trees and realize what's up in the forest.. <flames die off
naturally>
IMHO...
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| 5183.23 | Galaxies == NUMA ?? | UTROP1::jgoras-197-2-11.jgo.dec.com::olthof_h | Spellchecked Henry Although | Wed Mar 12 1997 16:38 | 8 |
re 20, 21 Are you sure that this is NOT NUMA? Look at Sequent's homepage. Cheers, Henny ps: are we late again? | |||||
| 5183.24 | HW and SW responses to similar problems | WIBBIN::NOYCE | Pulling weeds, pickin' stones | Wed Mar 12 1997 16:46 | 11 |
NUMA is a hardware technique for working around the problems that arise when you try to provide symmetric access from dozens of processors to the same memory system. It provides Non-Uniform (performance of) Memory Access, with accesses to nearby memory completing faster than access to remote memory. Galaxies is a software strategy for taking advantage of dozens of processors sharing a common memory. While some of the conditions sound the same, there's no requirement that one be used with the other. Of course, you could use Galaxies on NUMA hardware, in which case you would want each separate cluster node to deal mainly with the memory that is near it in the hardware organization... | |||||
| 5183.25 | ;-) | CSC32::PITT | Thu Mar 13 1997 10:15 | 10 | |
re .3
>I caught part of it when I was flipping the channels... Did anybody
>notice anything odd about Bob when he was talking???
What? His lips were moving but Bill Gates voice was coming out???
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