Bad example, as Apple almost died back in the 90's.
Also, using a company founded in 1998 (16 years old) as a counter example to the parent argument who's scope was "centuries" is not ideal.
They did almost die, but that's why it's a great example. Why did they almost die? Because they started shitting out bad products. Why did they turn around? Because they re-evalutaed and looked at the products they were offering and reduced the number of them in order to focus more on those few products.
> Also, using a company founded in 1998 (16 years old) as a counter example to the parent argument who's scope was "centuries" is not ideal.
The scope of "centuries" is a joke. He didn't cite any examples, and "business" in the 1400's isn't really relevant or meaningful in 2014. My examples were to illustrate how absurd his "centuries" comment was by pointing that two of today's largest companies are very young (I haven't done a count but I'd be surprised if any/many of the top 100 companies were much more than one century old.)
So I guess you'll be saying the same thing about Google and Apple in a few hundred years, rendering your argument moot?
"Not going anywhere" means still here.
Borland was founded in 1983. By 2008, the only value left in it was its trademarks. So those were purchased, and now that company "still exists", in the sense that a few of its old names are being used to conduct business in the same industry. It was killed by gross mismanagement at the executive level.
Eastman Kodak was founded in 1888 and practically invented consumer-grade photography with the Brownie. But by 2012, the only thing left of value was its patents and trademarks. It even built a digital camera as early as 1975, which makes it look a lot like it was killed by being run over by its own car. But the trademark is still in use.
Beatrice Foods, founded in 1894, died in 1984. RCA was founded in 1919, and died in 1986. Compaq: 1982-2002. TWA: 1930-2001. General Foods: 1895-1990. MCI: 1983-2006. Pan Am: 1927-1991. Montgomery Ward: 1872-2001. American Motors: 1954-1983. Woolworth's: 1879-1997. Tower Records. Polaroid. Zenith. Circuit City. Borders. Blockbuster Video.
A business will tend to operate under the name of the oldest trademark that it can pass off with a straight face. That doesn't make it the same company. It may be that the new business entity picked up the lovely old facade out of the bargain bin and just slipped it on like a mask.
Make no mistake. Rapidly changing technology has made the international business environment brutal for companies of any age. Protected niches are being pried open and picked clean by the suits who happened to bankroll the lucky garage full of nerds. The fraction of workers that can count on stable, decades-long employment is dropping like a parachute in a vacuum chamber (or like a stone, if you prefer). And those are the people that cause their companies to retain their essential culture and character.
Companies aren't just dying faster. The ones that survive are forced to change so rapidly that actual death might be a less shocking development. It isn't really surprising that Roxio blazed out after its one-hit wonder. What is surprising is that it took so long for them to settle back down to the baseline.