My professional career was officially launched in the fall of ’72, when I joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in Munich. DEC’s business was selling minicomputer104 systems, and the PDP 11/20 was her newest baby. My first job was teaching computer programming classes to customers, and learning two additional assembler programming languages and the internals of several OSs in the process. The toughest teaching assignments given to me happened during so-called onsite classes. Taught at customer facilities where I had to educate a very clever and super knowledgeable audience. The demanding subjects the students desired to be instructed about were sometimes unknown to me ahead of time. Improvising I was sometimes only hours ahead of my students by reading up over lunch and teaching the self-same topic in the afternoon. Talk about having fun learning something new and being stressed teaching it to a challenging student body minutes later! My second job as sales trainer ended in a promotion to manage DEC’s Munich-based training center, which I turned around, restoring its high profitability. Two and a half years later I accepted a marketing manager position in DEC’s training division headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts. Before departing DEC in 1981, I spent a year as marketing manager, this time in the banking and insurance product group in Merrimac, New Hampshire. Due to office politics I became bored and frustrated. Back in Munich, a short stint with National Semiconductors followed, where I learned how to sell semiconductor components to German computer manufactures.
Having missed the first wave of the PC revolution, I was easily lured away from struggling Nat-semi by Mike Spindler, soon to be Apple’s European SVP located in Paris. In ’81 he offered me a marketing manager position to guide Apple’s European software ambitions and promised to promote me to head a to-be-founded European subsidiary of Claris, an Apple-owned software company. After that plan was dropped by management I saw no reason to stay. I relished the two years I worked for the company, learned a ton about the PC industry in general and how essential software is for her success in particular. Not wanting to play second fiddle in a mainly hardware focused enterprise, I moved on. Before leaving I attended a last meeting with Steve Jobs, who showed a portable Apple II and gave a progress report in regard to the Macintosh. Despite his prima donna aura I peppered him with questions, annoying Mike, who took me aside during recess saying “You do not cross this man if you want to have a career in this company.” He was right on, I quit one week later…
A software guy at heart, a small company called Microsoft (MS) had caught my eyes. She was founded in ’75 at the dawn of the PC industry. I got involved with her international division when brokering a deal to localize her Multiplan spreadsheet into several European languages for the Apple IIe introduction in March, ’83. Helping me to get that job done was Jean-Louis Gassée, then Apple’s French country manager and an avid admirer of MS and founder Bill Gates.
When Mike Spindler learned I had accepted a subsidiary manager position in Germany working for MS, he roundly congratulated me, expressing his desire for local cooperation. He seemed proud to have an ex-Apple guy run MS’s new sub.105
My dream had long been running my own software company. Though technically never achieved, I had so far been consistently lucky to align myself with cutting-edge American IT entities. Each challenged me to make a difference, implicitly entrusting me with vaster operating autonomy than a typical German company would have done—tremendously helping my career. Off I went into another adventure, one that would last twenty years and would be filled with turbulence, hard work, and tons of fun.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Working on this book for nearly two years, I received a lot of help from and encouragement from my friends, ex-coworkers, and my family. They taught me how to improve my writing style and bettered the accuracy of my telling. They spent countless hours reviewing several drafts and returned them with useful comments, which at the end made a huge difference in how this story came together. Thank you sincerely for all your help:
Peter Maul, my writing coach, teacher, and friend
Karl Schlagenhof, my friend and ex-business partner
Kurt Kolb, my ex-coworker and friend
Molly MacDonald, my beloved wife
Carl Gulledge, my ex-coworker and friend
Ron Hosogi, my ex-coworker and friend
Rich Ellings, president, National Bureau of Asian Research, and my friend
Ben Hsu, my ex-coworker and friend
Tyler Bramlet-Kempin, my talented son and immensely helpful editor
Karolos Karnikis, chairman and CEO, Vistula, and business partner
The Internet—I could not have written this without you!
GLOSSARY
A
Acer PC manufacturer based in Taiwan
ActiveX Frame work designed by MS for reusable software components independent of any programming language
AG Attorney General
AIM Alliance formed by Apple, IBM and Motorola to create a PC standard based on the IBM Power Pc architecture
AIX Advanced Interactive eXecutive, Name of IBM’s UNIX version
Alagem, Beny Founder and CEO of PB
Alchin, Jim SVP of MS responsible for the Windows development group
AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Manufacturer of Intel like CPUs and graphic cards
Amiga Family of computers marketed by Commodore
Amstrad British manufacturer of consumer devices
Anglo-American Countries governed by English common law
AOL American Online, Internet services and media company
Apache Distributor and developer of Linux software
API Application programming interface, set of specifications for software programs
Apple Manufacturer of PCs and consumer electronics
Apple II 8-bit home computer built by Apple
Application Short for software application, set of computer instructions for a specific task
apps Abbreviation for application
ARM Advanced RISC Machine, a CPU containing a reduced instruction set for a computer
Ashton-Tate ISV for database products, most famous one was called dBase
assembler Low-level programming language specific to a computer system
AST PC clone manufacturer from CA founded by Albert Wong, Safi Qureshey, and Thomas Yuen
AT Advanced Technology, IBM designator for one of her PC models
AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph, telephone and Internet services provider
Atari Home computer and game-console manufacturer
Atlas V rocket Powerful rocket delivering payload into space
Auftragstaktik German for mission-oriented command philosophy
Austro German, for Austrian
B
Ballmer, Steve CEO of MS
BASIC Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, high-level programming language
Bavaria State located in the southeastern part of Germany
Beijing Capital of PRC
Bell Telephone Laboratories Former research arm of AT&T
BeOS Multimedia OS for Mac, IBM, and PowerPCs by Be Inc.
Big Blue Nickname for IBM
binary code CPU instructions using only the digits 0 and 1
Bingaman, Anne Assistant AG, head of the DOJ’s antitrust division from ’93–’97
BIOS Basic Input/Output System, CPU instructions to manage peripheral devices
bit Smallest unit of information for a computer system
blitz German, lightning-fast action
blitzkrieg German, speedy military action to obliterate an enemy
Boies, David Lead prosecutor in MS’s antitrust trial
boot sequence Process of launching an OS
Borland ISV producing software-development tools and programming languages
Bull Groupe Bull, French electronic and communications company
Bush administration Management of the US government during George W. Bush’s presidency
Butler, Jeremy SVP of MS respon
sible for territories outside the USA
byte Digital information unit consisting of eight bits
C
C Programming language developed by Dennis Ritchie
CA California, state of the USA
Caldera ISV for OS and application software
Canon Japanese manufacturer of imaging and optical products
carpe diem Seize the day
CD Compact disk, optical storage disk for digital data
CE Windows CE, MS OS for mobile devices and industrial controllers
CeBIT Largest trade fair for IT and telecom solutions, held every spring in Hannover, Germany
CEC Corporate Executive Committee, IBM’s top management group
CEO Chief executive officer
CES Consumer Electronic Show, held each January in Las Vegas, Nevada
CFO Chief financial officer
Chase, Brad SVP of MS’s Windows marketing group
Chicago Code name for MS Windows 95 OS
Chicago school of antitrust Institution of thought in regard to economics, law, and national policy
chip Basic electronic component in form of an integrated circuit
Chongqing Major city in the southwestern part of PRC
Chrome Google’s Internet browser and OS
Churchills Cigars of a large size as preferred by England’s former prime minister
CISC Complex instruction set computer, computer architecture able to execute more than one instruction simultaneously
Claflin, Bruce GM and VP of IBM’s PC company, now chairman of AMD
Claris Apple-owned ISV
Clausewitz, Carl von Nineteenth century Prussian general, military theorist, and author
clone Hardware or software system designed to mimic another
cloud Grid or network-delivering computing services
cloud computing Execution of software programs via the cloud
COBOL Programming language used for business, financial, and administrative tasks
code Computer programming instructions
COMDEX IT expo held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada
Commodore Home computer and PC manufacturer
Commodore 64 Best-selling 8-bit home computer from Commodore
Compaq PC manufacturer now owned by HP
compiler Program translating source code from high-level programming languages into CPU executable code
computer Programmable machine carrying out sequences of arithmetic and logical instructions
Con gusto With pleasure
COO Chief operating officer
Corel Utah-based ISV, engaged in word-processing software
C++ Intermediate programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup
CP/M Control program for microprocessors, OS developed by DRI
CP/M-86 DRI’s disk OS for the Intel’s family of CPUs
CPU Central processor unit, electronic component capable of executing the binary instructions for a computer system
Cro-Magnon Early Homo sapiens of the European Upper Paleolithic
D
Danton, George Leading figure of the French Revolution
database Application program organizing a collection of data
DataQuest Provider of research and analysis for the IT industry
dBase Popular database produced by Ashton-Tate
DEC Digital Equipment Corporation, manufacturer of minicomputers and PCs
Dell IBM PC clone manufacturer
Dell, Michael Founder and CEO of Dell
Deloitte & Touche Professional services firm
deposition Witness testimony given under oath
desktop Screen background for a user interface operating a computer
desktop PC Stationary PC
DESQview User interface for MS-DOS designed by Quarterdeck
developer Person designing or writing software programs
DOJ Department of Justice, USA’s top law-enforcement agency
DOS Disk Operating System, OS needing a hard disk to function
sot-com bubble Stock market rise and fall caused by enterprises engaged in Internet-related commerce between 1995 and 2001
DR-DOS DRI’s disk operating system for IBM PCs
Dreamcast Game console manufactured by Sega
DRI Digital Research Institute, ISV producing OSs and software development tools
driver Program guiding the interactions between the CPU and its peripheral devices
DVD Digital versatile disk, high-capacity optical storage disk exceeding that of a CD
E
e-book reader Text for a book stored on an electronic device
eMachines Korean investor-backed PC manufacturer, later bought by GW
e-mail Messaging system allowing computer users to exchange data via a network
Ernst & Young Professional services firm
Escom German PC manufacturer
étude Musical composition of considerable difficulty
evangelist Software specialist helping other developers
Excel MS’s spreadsheet version for the Mac- and Windows-powered PCs
F
Facebook Popular brand of social network services
Fade, Richard SVP of MS, led the OEM group after I left
FE Far East, all Asian counties
Feds Federal officials or agents
Firefox Open-source Web browser
Fischer, Franklin DOJ’s economic expert during MS’s antitrust trial
FLP Front Line Partnership, marketing pact between Compaq and MS
FORTRAN Programming language for numeric and scientific computations
Franco French
Frederick the Great Eighteenth century king of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty
Free Software Foundation Nonprofit organization for the for free-software movement
FTC Federal Trade Commission, regulates business practices supposedly to protect consumers and enterprises
Führungsstil German, leadership style
FY Fiscal year, period used for calculating annual financial statements
G
GameCube Game console manufactured by Nintendo
Gassée, Jean-Louis Former Apple GM and founder and CEO of Be
Gates, Bill Cofounder and chairman of MS
Gateway PC manufacturer, now part of Acer
GB Gigabyte, one equals million bytes of 8-bit information
GE General Electric, large conglomerate
GEM Graphical Environment Manager, DRI’s GUI for MS-DOS and DR-DOS
GEOS Graphic Environment OS for the Commodore 64 home computer
Gerstner, Lou IBM’s CEO and chairman from 1994 to 2001
GM General manager
Gneisenau, Neidhardt von Nineteenth century count and Prussian field marshal
GNU GPL License for open-source software, originated by Richard Stallman
Google ISV and Internet services provider
Great Wall company PC manufacturer in PRC
GUI Graphical user interface, user shell to operate a computer with mouse clicks and graphical icons
GW Gateway
H
hacker Person accessing a computer system by circumventing security measures
Hades Greek, the abode of the dead
Hallman, Michael President of MS from 1990 to 1992
Hard drive Information storage device containing a spinning disk holding large quantities of data
hardware Physical components of a computer system
Harris, Jim VP of MS and predecessor in my OEM job
HCL Hindustan Computer Limited, India-based IT company
Heiner, Dave MS’s antitrust attorney
Hewlett-Packard IT conglomerate
Hitachi Japanese manufacturer of computer systems
HK Hong Kong, city in Asia located in special administrative region of the PRC, formerly under British rule
Holley, Steven Senior attorney, guided me through the antitrust maze
holographic images Images stored in a three-dimensional format
Holstein A region in Northern Germany
house of cards Structure in danger of collapsing
HP Hewlett-Packard
HTML HyperText Markup Language, program language for designing Web pages
I
IBM International Business Machines, computer manufacturer and IT services company
IBM PC Personal computer designed by IBM
IBM PC clone PC functioning like an IBM PC
IBM PC company IBM’s business unit in charge of her PC business
IBM PC compatible IBM PC clone
icon Pictogram displayed on a computer screen
IE Internet Explorer
in camera Latin, in private—not open to the public
injunction Court order, requiring a party to refrain from certain acts
Intel Semiconductor manufacturer
IP Intellectual property, product of human intellect that can be protected by law
Internet Explorer MS’s Web browser integrated in Windows
Interpreter Software executing programming instructions
iPhone Apple’s Internet-enabled smartphone
ISP Internet services provider, company connecting users to the Internet
ISV Independent software developer, company producing commercial software programs
IT Information technology
J
Jackson, Thomas P. Judge presiding over MS’s antitrust trial from 1998 to 2001
Java Object programming language and partial OS
Julius Caesar Roman general and statesman
K
KB Kilobyte, one equals one thousand bytes
Kindle Amazon’s brand of e-book readers
Klein, Joel Assistant AG, head of DOJ’s antitrust division from 1997 to 2002
Resolve and Fortitude : Microsoft's ''SECRET POWER BROKER'' breaks his silence Page 41
