IBM was king. I think in the late ’80s and early ’90s, we saw that shift and Microsoft became king of the hill. And in 2009, 2010, going forward, Microsoft is sort of like IBM. It’s a longtime company with a great tradition and still very profitable, but it’s not the leader.
Another sign that a company is at the top, but due to come down:
Awesome R&D, which hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting to be a real product. (IBM, Xerox, the old AT&T)
Apple and Google still seem to be actively turning new tech into product. Microsoft: mainly the XBox division seems to still be doing this.