Comments on the AT&T/NCR merger

[Stephen J. Friedl]

A colleague of mine forwarded me a bit from the rumor column from
the recent issue if _InfoWorld_, and I found the analysis interesting
(mostly because I am patently incapable of doing this kind of thinking).

	Which brings us to AT&T's play for NCR.  I can't remember another
	hostile takeover in this business, and that's because until now no
	unwelcome suitor would risk buying a company only to lose all its
	workers.

	To make the merger work, AT&T will have to convince the NCR workers
	to stay on, which means that, like Matsushita with MCA, they can't
	afford to change anything.  So what do they do with the existing
	AT&T computer business?

	It's history.

	Whether the acquisition takes place or not, it seems to me that
	AT&T chairman Bob Allen is telling his computer people that they
	are not good enough.  Having thus burned his bridges, Allen will
	pay whatever it takes to get NCR, and even then AT&T may end up
	with less than it bargained for.

     Hmmm...

     Steve

-- 
Stephen J. Friedl, KA8CMY  /  3B2-kind-of-guy  /  Tustin, CA / 3B2-kind-of-guy
+1 714 544 6561  / friedl at mtndew.Tustin.CA.US  / {uunet,attmail}!mtndew!friedl

"If it doesn't core dump, ship it" - Gary W. Keefe, on product development