Tecnologia: Empresas vão, as empresas vêm

TRANSLATION NOTES: Please read some comments at the end of this post

Today I had a story that has left me with nostalgia, of seeing a technology company that after not withstand the crisis that involves life sustain has been bought by another, after 5 years of effort. The difficult thing is that sooner or later happens to people for whom we feel appreciation and their eyes reflect us that it could be better, after having shared coffee, known their dreams and inspiring egeomates.

My first post, which inspired the name of this blog, is closely related to them.

And this is because the technology business is not easy, in this we just only have to sit with the ones who paint gray hair and remember that history has always been complicated. For some this will sounds like being in a cave, but I’m going to remind you how this happened even to the great of technological inventiveness and that this example is still alive.

Intergraph. Ah, many know that Bentley Systems was born there, now you gain advantage in the CAD / CAM environment to Geomedia that remains there, but if we talk about nostalgia we must remember that Intergraph was a leader in technological innovation before all companies that are now greater:

• At the beginning of the 70 it developed applications for NASA
• It launched multiple-processor computers, before there was DOS, in 1982 had equipments of three processors with 1MB RAM
• It manufactured equipment with USB ports rather than they have that name, and we had to see how good the sources of power were.

Hence, many people remain in using Inroads which ran on IntelliCAD, Microstation and AutoCAD … oh God!

• Made processors and graphics cards before the Intel’s appearance and from there were born technologies now used by Motorola, even the Oracle’s space part was the invention of Intergraph
• In 1974, existed the IGDS format, and Nashville had a digital mapping at the time … and they weren’t fucking vectors
• In 1978 built the first local area network (LAN) in CAD’s history
• In 1980, Intergraph brought the first computer that supported raster formats setting the high resolution 1280 x 1024 standards which to date is used.
• In 1985, its technology allowed creating a 3D model database of the Statue of Liberty’s renovation
• In 1987 they introduced the first 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2 megapixels

Ah, so that you may have an idea, the first commercial version of AutoCAD 1.0 was presented in 1982, Microstation 2.0 in 1987 for PC.

But so it is life, one day Intel made their life complicated and simply it just finish although Intergraph was the creator of Windows NT technology and processors based in Clipper. A simple plagiarism of its technology led to a lawsuit for patent while they were developing Pentium II for Intel, this lawsuit against Hewlett Packard, Intel and Gateway kept them busy, but although finally they obtained 450 million in profit, time ate them and they ended cut into pieces in companies like 3DLabs, Silicon Graphics, Hellman & Friedman LLC, Texas Pacific Group and JMI Equity. While Intergraph retains important leadership, for its innovation they should have better representation in our minds and this tells us that the battle should had been complicated.

The other day I found in a National Cadastre a CPU of Intergraph brand, those that were worth a pretty penny and weighing about 75 pounds … used as a wedge so that the door is not closed. A tear did a stampede on my left cheek and reminded me that we are alive; there is no time to remember bad times, less if they were inevitable.

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My friends, life continues, today the technology we defend with so enthusiasm will be bought by another giant and in 10 years we will not remember that old cartoon of little David and big Goliath that Intergraph showed at annual conferences. The story I told, the Intergraph’s one happened to one company which in 2009 celebrated 40 years of innovation, it is hoped that it happens to any other mortal, more in a year of global crisis.

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For my friends, who fought for about 5 years with big dreams, there’s much ahead. The next time will be better, that dream of being great must be inside of us… and thank you for them because at 15 laughter and taking steamy coffee inspired the name of this humble blog.

In 10 years I would like to sit down and take the same cup, and although it’ll taste the same, as homelike from Sonsonate (*), things will be better.

TRANSLATION NOTES:

(*) Cortina de Sonsonate: Sonsonate is a town in San Salvador, and ‘cortina’ alludes to home, something homelike. Probably our author is expressing and intimate idea of home’s nostalgia here.