Here is the summary of today’s Morning Brief, which you can register to receive in your mailbox every morning accompanied by:
Every week is full of surprises when you’re involved in the media.
I guess that’s part of the adrenaline rush of being in the game, so to speak.
In this regard, I was personally surprised by two things this week.
First, not everyone 30 and under has heard of it. Compaq.
As a reminder, they made big desktop computers that used to be plugged into a phone jack on the wall, which was plugged into this thing called the World Wide Web (or Internet…).
Once everything was plugged in, you turned on the Compaq (the most popular model was the Compaq Presario) via a switch on the back, logged into what was called an AOL (America Online) account, listened to the loud technical noises coming from the computer, and poof, you were magically connected to friends you had just seen at school and complete strangers in faraway lands.
You then started posting sad songs on your MySpace account because, chances are, you had just broken up with your high school sweetheart for the ninth time in a week (or was that just me…).
Hewlett Packard, now split into PC maker HP Inc. (HPQ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a major player in artificial intelligence servers, bought rival Compaq for about $19 billion in a 2002 deal. (See also my recent conversation with HP’s CEO and another conversation with Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s CEO.)
HP discontinued the Compaq brand in 2013.
This part of the history lesson is over.
The next surprise for me this week is that not everyone under 30 remembers the iconic “Dude, you’re gonna buy a Dell“TV commercials. Those commercials dominated the airwaves when I was in college, and I would say they helped introduce Dell to consumers who barely knew how to use a computer.
I have no idea why these ads left an impression, but they did.
All in all, it all reminded me that I am getting closer and closer to the gray beard at work. I don’t have a beard, it just means you are an elder statesman. It’s weird to be in this place, but you can’t outrun Father Time – even my bionic self. I envy youth.
After laying everything out, I actually have a surprise for YOU! That is, do you have Really Did you know that Dell has completely transformed itself? Just read the company’s annual report here and continue scrolling below.
Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, then a student at the University of Texas. The company manufactured PCs, in large numbers.
Over the years, the company has transformed itself into a PC maker and a technology player that is an integral part of the global technology infrastructure. Think servers, storage, and other components for entire countries and companies that I won’t bore you with listing.
The company is well beyond the integration of its 2016 behemoth EMC acquisition.
I had to spend 25…
