Dearly Departed: Companies and Products That Didn't Deserve to Die

Some products just didn't deserve to die. But they did, because the companies made bad business decisions. We revisit several of our favorites--from minicomputers to software utilities--and mourn the best and brightest that died an untimely death.

The day the nonstop...stopped

Company: Tandem
Born: 1974
Died: 1997 (acquired by Compaq)
Cause of Death: Couldn't hold its own when workstation vendors invaded its marketplace
Founders: Group of engineers from HP, led by James Treybig
Most well-known product(s): NonStop hardware and software
Why we miss them: MTBF was measured in years in a time when systems crashed every few days.
Lasting image/quote: "I don't feel like I was successful because I made a lot of money, although that's a nice byproduct. I feel like I was successful because I changed, in a positive way, the way many people experience their own world." -James Treybig, 2006

Next: Elegance and ease wasn't enough>>

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