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To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (135533)	7/5/1999 2:11:00 PM
From: Edwarda	Respond to of 176387

back in the old days IBM used to give the software away "free of cost" -- you just needed to buy their mainframe. That was the cause of the anti-trust suit which eventually resulted in unbundling. Now, as you pointed out, the situation may be reversed -- they are looking at hardware as a means of selling software and services. Even after the unbundling, the company continued to use software and services as a loss leader for years. That was the motivation behind Compaq's acquisition of Digital. Or, at least, that was the cited reason. I said at the time that I thought it was a lousy acquisition and I still say so. However, you are quite correct in reminding people that one cannot look at IBM's PC business in a vacuum and that the company may need to offer a full line--even if it should be outsourcing parts of its offerings or reselling them in a Big Blue box.