mainframe

Ken Olsen, the MIT-educated inventor who founded DEC in the 1950s and built it into multibillion dollar company, died on Sunday. In addition to inventing the minicomputer, Olsen was a pioneer as a manager. But perhaps the most valuable lesson his life can teach regards his one business blind spot.

International Business Machines (IBM) used to dominate the computer industry -- especially in the 1960s when mainframe computers were the only game in town. During the 1970s, that dominance gave birth to a lengthy antitrust lawsuit, which Ronald Reagan's justice department dismissed in 1982. Some...

Dell Inc. (DELL) agreed to pay a 68 percent premium for Perot Systems Corp. (PER) in a $3.9 billion acquisition announced today. That's a shockingly high figure in a stock market that has run up enormously. What's more, Dell paid cash, $30 per share, a step that means all the risk in the deal is...