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How nine of the world’s largest tech companies got started
- josefresco 18y agoAnyone think Google will be around in 100 years?
- mixmax 18y agoStatistical evidence would say no.
- maurycy 18y agoWhat 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).
- reconbot 18y agoWe're so young as a society. Wake me when google's 1500 years old.
- maurycy 18y agoSuch argument refutes everything but churches.
- Retric 18y agoNot really several are well on their way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies.
- laut 18y agoIf 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).
- mixmax 18y agoyes, but you're looking backwards and seeing which companies survived. This is very different from looking forward and predicting which companies will survive.
- netcan 18y agoOK then. Give us some statistical evidence from the future.
- callmeed 18y agoIf 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 :)
- blasdel 18y agoYes. 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.
- zandorg 18y agoGoogle 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.
- liuliu 18y agoIt 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?
- lacker 18y agoWell, 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.
- SingAlong 18y agoSomething 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??
- hwijaya 18y agoIt's actually refer to this Guan Yin Goddess, not, Indian Goddess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin 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.