How nine of the world’s largest tech companies got started | Hacker News Reader

How nine of the world’s largest tech companies got started

royal.pingdom.com

36 pointswird18 comments

Google knew how to dodge Microsoft after Netscape succumbed - by adapting so not to make a mistake twice (desktop software). Fool you once I'm a millionaire, twice I'm a billionaire.

Something caught my eye on that page - old Canon logo. Just take a closer look at the logo and you'll find that it's the logo looks like an Indian Goddess. Sitting on a lotus is Saraswati but the face looks like Kali. And with multiple hands. One hand on the left has the mala(a sacred chanting chain) and a another above that has an axe.

A Japanese company with an Indian logo??

It's actually refer to this Guan Yin Goddess, not, Indian Goddess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin

From what I know, some Japanese worship her as well. Maybe it was much more popular in old days.

Anyone think Google will be around in 100 years?

If they are, and you use this list as a reference, they'll have adapted and will be doing something totally different.

Maybe they'll be selling fish or making shoes :)

Yes.

If any of today's large companies survive, Google will absolutely be one of them. Their ad revenue may shrink (at least %-wise), but if anybody's going to survive it will be them. Amazon's probably got a pretty decent chance too.

Just looking at tech companies: Microsoft's cancerous growth will eventually kill it, Apple could get taken over by MBAs again post-Jobs, Sun has been dying forever, people will stop paying IBM for support. The best hope for the US automakers is to die and have their stuff bought and operated by foreign/new outfits in a very public way.

Statistical evidence would say no.

What statistical evidence says so?

The oldest large tech companies have mere 50 years, and they still seem to do more or less fine (eg, IBM, Apple, Microsoft).

yes, but you're looking backwards and seeing which companies survived. This is very different from looking forward and predicting which companies will survive.

OK then. Give us some statistical evidence from the future.

No, he is suggesting you take large companies from 50 years ago and see how they are doing. If you take companies that are around today it's going to look like 100% of companies stick around or are bought out and the only question is for how long.

Right uh, sorry.

We're so young as a society. Wake me when google's 1500 years old.

Such argument refutes everything but churches.

If we are talking about institutions still in place today of 1000+ year age, there are examples such as the Japanese empire (started BC) and the Danish kingdom (started in the 10th century).

Not really several are well on their way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies.

It is very interesting that companies out of U.S. are doing sth totally different from now in the beginning. IBM, HP, Motorola and only one Japanese company Canon on the track of "naturally" evolving. Why no American companies on the list jumped to a totally irrelevant area?

Well, a lot more Japanese and Korean companies are congolomerates. They jump to different areas all the time. In fact, about half the South Korea GDP is produced by four companies - Hyundai, Samsung, LG and SK. In Seoul there is an entire mall devoted to Hyundai products.

If you want a good American example, try GE. Started by Edison to sell various electrical inventions, part of the original Dow Jones in 1896, nowadays GE includes finance, energy, NBC, airplane and train engines, all sorts of crazy stuff.

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