Conference 7.286::digital

    A male, early thirties, with a neatly trimmed beard.  He's wearing
    a dress shirt and tie but no coat.  His shirt sleeves are rolled
    up to just below the elbows.  He is a very intelligent, analytical
    engineer who also happens to have an uncanny ability to relate to
    people and what they're thinking.  He's the kind of person you like
    and feel comfortable with right off the bat.
    
    Ok, that's my impression -- someone else's turn now...
    
    							Pat

    Gee, I guess it depends on who you are (internal, external, field,
    MIS, engineering). I picture the image as 25-35, male, little
    neatness. He is very intelligent but highly opinionated and
    probably has trouble getting along with people not on their wave
    length. I'm not 100% happy with the image but that's what I see.
    
    			Alfred
    
    PS: As a shot in the dark .1 wouldn't happen to describe someones
    husband would it? :-)

    I've been thinking but I just keep coming back to the fact that
    we are much too diverse to pin a single persona on this corporation.
    
    Valuing Diversity,
    Marge

  > PS: As a shot in the dark .1 wouldn't happen to describe someones
  > husband would it? :-) 
    
    Well, now that you mention it...  The physical description isn't off
    too much, 'cept he deals with our customers so he wears suits to work
    and doesn't roll up his sleeves.  But I wasn't thinking of that when I
    wrote it. 
    
    My image of Digital is an engineer who relates to the real world. Since
    I deal far more with our customers' engineers than with Digital's, my
    PHYSICAL image of an engineer comes from the people I've known at our
    customer sites who are in various engineering disciplines. And that,
    with a little K.O. rolled in, was the root of my description. 
    
    							Pat 
    
    Any resemblance to my husband is purely accidental -- honest, honey!
     (^:

I can't decide whether the persona wears a T-shirt or a pocket protector,
because so few T-shirts I see have pockets to protect.
				/AHM

> I can't decide whether the persona wears a T-shirt or a pocket protector,
> because so few T-shirts I see have pockets to protect.

	The pocket protector would tear up the T-shirt's pocket.  The pocket 
protectors also tend to fall out of that size pocket.  Stick the pocket 
protector in his pants pocket if he is wearing a T-shirt that day.  8^)

	Personaly, I like Uncle Ken.

    I think of SMURFs!  Possible the first tribe of the little creatures
    that has a chance of attaining EEO quotas.  We used to be called
    "DEC elves".  I guess because we worked day and night hacking away
    and climbing allover each other in the normal maintenance of custoemr
    relations.

    I envision Digital as ...
    
    [The scene - the bridge of the Starship Enterprisewide]
    
    [Captain Picard queries Commander Database]
    
    Mr. Database, what is that thing on the viewscreen?
    
    [Database]
    
    Not entirely sure, captain.  It's essentially formless, an amorphous
    mass.  It doesn't seem to have any clearly defined structure.  There
    seems to be traces of some sort of elemental matrix organization,
    but nothing definitive.
    
    [Jean-Luc turns to Counselor Troi]
    
    Well, what can you tell me about it's motivations, counselor?
    
    [The counselor gets that quirky look on her face as she telepathically
    reaches out to sense the unidentified entity]
    
    Captain, it's very puzzling.  I am sensing no evil intentions
    whatsoever, but an overwhelming feeling of confusion.  It appears
    to have a high degree of intelligence, but seems to lack any clear
    direction or leadership, at least for the moment.
    
    [Tasha interrupts with a bulletin]
    
    Captain, I'm getting very sophisticated communication across all
    wavelengths from the entity.  It appears to be able to communicate
    with outside entities extremely well, but seems to suffer from poor
    communication within its own boundries.
    
    [Captain Picard makes a decision]
    
    Very interesting.  Let's return here someday and see if this entity
    survives and prospers.
    
    [Turning to Lt. Worf, the Captain continues]
    
    Lt., feed Geordi the coordinates of that evil, blue creature on the
    galaxial rim.  We must continue our mission to stop its growth. I don't
    know how to do it. 
                       
    [Saying to himself]
    
    Hmmm ... I wonder if that strange entity we've left behind just
    now could have helped us in our mission?

    [Fade to black, as the Starship Enterprisewide accelerates to Warp
    Factor 8 ... and the strange amorphous entity follows them]

.6>	Personaly, I like Uncle Ken.

    
    Why,thank you...my nephews and nieces do too.

 About 8 years ago, a whole bunch of DECcies gathered in front of PK3 
behind an (empty) VAX-11/780 cabinet.  Various photos of the assembled 
population were taken, and published as an ad campaign with a slogan
about the number of people at DEC who stand behind what we sell.

 That picture sums up Digital for me -- a wide variety of people with
many differnt jobs, many different styles, many differents of expertize
all gathered in one place for a common purpose.

					Nigel

ps: If you find one of the old adverts, I'm in the upper right hand
corner along with my (at the time) fellow VAXworkers.  Yes, the little
ugly red-bearded blob IS me!

    re:  previous descriptions ...
    
    Gee, I guess none of you ever had to *buy* computers from DEC. 
    When I think back to my customer days, I get the impression of
    a stern high-school principal:  late thirties, jacket and tie,
    maybe glasses and a beard.  Wants to do the right thing, but it
    always has to be done *his* way.  Arbitrary rules are his passion.
    
    One of the things we get ragged on constantly is high-handedness
    when dealing with the customer, and a horrible tangle of rules
    and policies for ordering, licensing, and invoicing.  Account
    management was nil when I was a customer;  If I couldn't figure
    out the part numbers and cables, then I was out of luck.
    
    With that off my chest, now that I've been inside the company
    for 6-odd years, I do have a different perspective, but it's
    based more or less on KO.  The Giant who carves out a path of
    his own.  He may step on some of the little people, but that's
    because it's hard to see the ground so far away.  He may step
    on some other giants' toes, but that's because they didn't get
    out of the way fast enough.  We ride on the shoulders of the
    Giant, and cheer him on.  On of the great things about this
    company is that I've never talked to a DEC person who did not
    respect and believe in KO.  While we may not like what some
    of his subordinates are doing to the company, Ken is always
    regarded as *the* person who really cares.
    
    Geoff

    Well, as a Digital old-timer, I'd say
    
    
    ...... a teddy bear. :-)

    Well, as someone who has been here four years, I agree with those
    for whom KO _IS_ the persona of Digital.  He will be inextricably
    bound to the image of Digital as long as the company lasts.

    re: .10
    
    A group from the RT-11 Development group, like good do-bees reported
    to the group photo.  They were decked out in the "original" yellow
    RT-11 T shirts.  They massed in the front row.  Funny thing tho,
    the picture shows a group of people in business suits where they
    were standing.  In addition, these people had their faces!
    
    
    Air brushing is amazing!
    
    /s/ Jim Williams

    After some days I imagine DEC as a large headless chicken. Usually
    its a casually dressed (but tidy), mid twenties to thirtys, semi
    serious and professional (like me really :-)).
    
    .jim.

If you think KO is the persona of DEC, what do you make of this quote from
him?  I read it in a recent interview in one of the industry weeklies:

	"I just build computers;  I don't use them."

It was in response to the observation of the interviewer that KO's office
contains no computer terminal.

    RE:  .13                       -< Digital is KO >-

>    Well, as someone who has been here four years, I agree with those
>    for whom KO _IS_ the persona of Digital.  He will be inextricably
>    bound to the image of Digital as long as the company lasts.

    Well, that's good and bad.  Because KO won't always be with us. Much as
    we'd all like it to never change.
    
    I think that some years after his departure, we won't even recognize
    this company.  I believe the changes have already started.
    
    He'll be remembered as the founder, but whether his values live
    on ... I think the writing is on the wall.
    

    KO IS the persona?  Hmmmmmmm...What comes to mind is the infamous
    picture of him standing in a rowboat!  Oh, well.
    
    
    

    RE: "I just build computers;  I don't use them."
    
    When Ken starts spending time on a workstation or a terminal typing
    stuff, *then* you can start to worry.  He can't waste the time to do
    that sort of thing.
    
John

    Re .18
    
>    KO IS the persona?  Hmmmmmmm...What comes to mind is the infamous
>    picture of him standing in a rowboat!  Oh, well.

    Thats the way I picture the personna of the company, hip boots,
    fishing hat and all.
    
    Larry

    Re the FORTUNE (or was it FORBES) cover photo:
    
    I remember it as a canoe, not a rowboat.  In a later issue,
    a reader commented in a letter that standing up in canoes
    is dangerous.  The editor replied that was generally true,
    but in this case (if one looked at the photograph) the
    canoe was on dry land, not in the water, and thus completely
    safe from tipping!
    
    			-John Bishop

    
    Parts of this "discussion" smacks of personality cult.
    Bo 

    Re: The Digital personna standing in a rowboat or canoe:
    
    To complete this image, the Boston Globe, Tuesday, August 30, 1988,
    carried a Busness Extra section the headline of which was, "Digital
    Crosses the Rubicon." 
    
    

    Does the Globe really mean to be drawing an analogy between Digital and
    Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon?
    
    Let's see, that equates IBM with Rome. And Digital with taking over
    IBM. Maybe we could have a parade through beautiful downtown
    Poughkeepsie? 
    
    And what was it that happened to poor ol' Julius on 15 March 44 BC? I
    know! Mt. Vesuvius erupted. No, that was 24 Aug 79 AD. Hmmm. How far is
    this analogy supposed to be extended? 

    I view Digital as a loosly bound confederation of states with each
    state having its own cultural uniquenesses, values, etc.. The
    demographics have changes and will continue to change.  
    However, there is a certain personna that exists here in the states.
    
    A 37 to 40 year old male with beard, oxford shirt, Nike running
    shoes, paper stacked in the office (not filed), and having fun working.
    A 34 year old female with a long loosly-fit denim dress, sweater
    and paper stacked neatly in the office, leading a project and doing
    a damn good job at it! 
                       

    But, is she having fun ?