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HP Businesses The Almighty Buck

HP Seals the Deal, Buys EDS For $14B 214

Posted by timothy from the the-same-only-different dept.
netbuzz writes "Following yesterday's spate of heated rumors, the announcement comes this morning that HP has completed a deal to buy EDS for just under $14 billion. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies, according to HP. EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer has issued an e-mail to his employees promising that the company brand will continue and, "We are — and will remain — EDS."
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HP Seals the Deal, Buys EDS For $14B More

HP Seals the Deal, Buys EDS For $14B

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  • Heh... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by leonbev ( 111395 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:49AM (#23391084) Journal
    I wonder if Digital's and Compaq's CEO's sent out a similar e-mail when they got bought out by HP :)

    Look at the bright point, guys... at least you didn't get bought out by IBM. They would have completely turned the business on it's head in a manner of months!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Gigiya ( 1022729 )
      Why would Compaq's employees want to stay Compaq?

    • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:09AM (#23391294)
      Compaq's CEO certainly sent out a similar email.

      The surviving Compaq portions of the combined company still have a lot of Compaq culture in them, but the HP culture is slowly eating that away.

      The CEO's extreme cost cutting is having an effect as well. Compaq employees used to have individual offices and free Cokes in the labs. Now we have cubes and expensive vending machine Cokes. Hell, they even took away the sporks from the break rooms.

      So, EDS folk: welcome to the company. Say goodbye to your sporks.

      • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Lord_Frederick ( 642312 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:21AM (#23391438)
        'Tis better to have sporked and lost than never to have sporked at all.

      • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by spookymonster ( 238226 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:51AM (#23391742)
        If your biggest issue is the loss of a few perks, sounds like the cost-cutting was targeted perfectly.

        Now if you'd complained about something that actually impacted your job performance (excessive micromanagement, armed guards outside the stationary closets, etc.), I might've felt some sympathy....

        • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by spideysense ( 822379 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:25PM (#23392104)
          Yeah because I'm sure the few hundred dollars they spent on coke and sporks in a year cut REAL deep into the $9.6billion profit from last year. Treating people like their actually human and throwing them a few tiny perks here and there goes a long way.
          • Reminds me of what I said to my boss - don't give me that pay rise; get a cappuccino machine and free coffee and I'll be happy. He couldn't believe it - the fact I was happy to give up a pay rise for that. As I said to him, if I get free coffee at work, I don't have to pay for it, which means I come back better off in the end :D

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Cajun Hell ( 725246 )
              No wonder psychology's mysteries have always eluded me!

              don't give me that pay rise; get a cappuccino machine and free coffee and I'll be happy. .. As I said to him, if I get free coffee at work, I don't have to pay for it

              Except that you paid for it! The difference being that your payment would always be earmarked for coffee (which is fine if you were just going to spend it on coffee anyway (even during financial emergencies)). I guess it's also cool that you end up paying less tax on it.

              He couldn't be

              • If you drink enough coffee, then it is possible to get a net gain out of the deal. You're paying a fixed cost for an unlimited amount of coffee, so you'll probably end up drinking a lot more coffee than you otherwise would. If the raise was going to be fairly small, you can come out ahead by quite a bit.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by kaiwai ( 765866 )
                  IIRC it worked about the same amount per week as the cost of 7 coffee's. When you take into account the amount of coffee I do drink, I'm better off many times over.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by kaiwai ( 765866 )
                Believe me, I drink alot of coffee - I'm surprised he hasn't come to me and say, "I give up! take the pay raise, I can't keep absorbing the cost" :P

                Me? I tend to drink 8-10 double shot's per day. I drink, breath and worship caffeine. I admit it, I'm a caffeine whore :)
                • Me? I tend to drink 8-10 double shot's per day. I drink, breath and worship caffeine. I admit it, I'm a caffeine whore :)

                  Dang, and I thought *I* used to drink a lot of coffee.

                  I switched back to iced tea though. I go through about a gallon over the course of the day. It's a lot easier on my stomach.

                • Dont be me, dude. (Score:3, Interesting)

                  by LibertineR ( 591918 )
                  As of two weeks ago, I was just like you. Probably 9-10 double shots a day, while coding .NET MOSS apps (SharePoint). I fainted in front of the espresso machine, and was taken to the Hospital, where they told me my blood pressure was 225/135. Checked my heart, found I had early stages of congestive heart failure. Now, I wear a Nitroglycerin patch, take 3 different meds a day for blood pressure and heart rhythm control, and my life expectancy has dropped by at least 10 years. I'm not overweight, used to play

                  • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                    by thethibs ( 882667 )

                    You need better advice.

                    Millions of dollars have been spent on studies looking to find some harm that coffee does. All to no avail. After oil, coffee is the second most traded commodity there is; we've been drinking it for so long and in such quantities that if there were anything harmful in it, the evidence would be literally pouring in. It isn't.

                    Also, anecdotes and old-wives' tales aside, caffeine dilates your blood vessels and stimulates fat-burning. Google "caffeine adenosine insulin"; it's all very i

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by rtaylor ( 70602 )
                I guess the real trick is to do both. Install the machine and give a smaller raise.

                I support this and I don't drink coffee. A durian opener and frozen yogurt machine is something I might be enthusiastic about. Nothing like durian flavoured frozen yogurt in a waffle cone.
          • Well, to put it in a different perspective, with that 9.6 billion, HP should have bought Coca-Cola. Free unlimited Coca-Cola for all employees! Rejoice! And it might just be more profitable than EDS. But then again, Coca-Cola is worth give or take $100 billion. So maybe they should buy out HP? After-all, what better way to pitch your product to a bunch of tech-workers!!??

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          If your biggest issue is the loss of a few perks, sounds like the cost-cutting was targeted perfectly.

          Now if you'd complained about something that actually impacted your job performance (excessive micromanagement, armed guards outside the stationary closets, etc.), I might've felt some sympathy....

          One of the key elements to the rise of Google has been all the little things it did for its employees to show they value and respect them via perks and giving them time to work on projects of their choice. If empl

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Daniel Dvorkin ( 106857 ) *
          If your biggest issue is the loss of a few perks, sounds like the cost-cutting was targeted perfectly.

          Free Cokes may be fairly trivial (although for some people it probably represents a significant chunk of income ...) but going from offices to cubes is not "the loss of a few perks." It's a fundamental downgrade in working conditions.

      • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by AchilleTalon ( 540925 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:07PM (#23391900) Homepage
        Someone can define HP's culture? Compaq's culture? Digital's culture? IBM's culture? And so on? It would be interesting to finally know if they are really so much different.

        • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Enderandrew ( 866215 ) <enderandrew@NOsPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:30PM (#23392160) Homepage Journal
          I don't know that I can define the above cultures very well, but corporations do have cultures, as do brands. When I worked for Harrahs, Inc. we never said gambling even though we owned casinos. We were about responsible entertainment. We also provided a clear formula to the customers for how much "gaming" meant how many reward points.

          When we became Horseshoe, we were all about gambling, gambling and gambling. We couldn't say gambler enough. Our comping system because obtuse and complicated, and seemingly random. We actually comped less, but tried to create the image that anyone could be comped for anything. Employees were also treated better even though we basically had the same management staff all the way up to the GM of the casino, but brand and company cultures were different.

        • Re:Heh... (Score:4, Funny)

          by BBandCMKRNL ( 1061768 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @01:12PM (#23392656)

          Someone can define Digital's culture?
          Yes.
          Digital - The beatings will continue until morale improves. The CEO has a reserved parking spot for his luxury car, eats lunch in his private dinning room, and a 24 x 7 security detail.

          DEC - The CEO parks his 10 year old pickup truck, the same one he uses to haul his trash to the dump on weekends, in any empty parking spot because he doesn't have a reserved one, eats lunch in the cafe like everyone else, and only has a security detail when the BoD demands it. He comes down to the hardware labs to not only admire your project but to actually understand it.

          Unfortunately, Ken didn't understand business as well as he understood technology. But then Robert Palmer didn't understand either.

        • Re:Heh... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @01:51PM (#23393208)
          Having worked at or been related to someone who worked for each of the afore mentioned companies here is my take on their "cultures"

          HP - Quality engineering with attention to the details (That culture is all but dead now). I think the venerable HP LJ III is a shining example of that culture. I still have clients who refuse to give up their LJ IIIs.

          Compaq - Their culture evolved over the years and not for the better. In the early years they were the scrappy David to IBM's Goliath and they could do anything. Free sodas flowed freely to offset the mandatory overtime shifts and it was very exciting. Because Compaq grew so quickly I believe there were management positions filled with less than qualified people which led to a protectionist mentality of much of the middle management. As a result good people got bounced just in case they had their eye on the middle manager's job. This slowly drove a wedge between workers and management which ultimately led to their demise. I worked there in the early years and during the handover to hp. My supervisor (badge number 35) was released shortly before my project was suspended.

          Digital - Many subcultures that never really got along. You had the geek set which did not understand business and a business culture that didn't know how to market what the geeks produced and a marketing and sales group who thought that the VAX would take them to retirement. Very smart people with vary narrow vision.

          IBM - They have embraced their white shirt, black tie image in their current advertising campaign which is fitting because that was entirely their culture. My uncle retired from the Air Force after 20 and went straight to work on IBM BIG IRON. Up the same time every day, same clothes, hair style, etc. A very bland life by most accounts but it was fulfilling for him.

        • HP culture of yesteryear.. (Score:4, Informative)

          by guzzirider ( 551141 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @02:21PM (#23393662)
          I remember what HP's culture was from the perspective of a user of fine test equipment (spectrum-analyzers RF-generators logic-analyzers distortion-analyzers) including using the technical support provided by HP (after sales) and less frequently involved in the purchasing process with the sales force of HP. For me, most of this experience started in the late 70's and continues today. However what I call HP is now Agilent that in my IMHO was the stupidest spin-off in the electronics industry.

          HP was a company that would support any thing it sold even real old stuff ... including making documentation available. (service manuals with schematics may not have been free but you could get one and it was not outrageous.)

          There was always a voice at the end of the phone that was competent and could answer rather complex questions on the use and application of said equipment. (now, remember this is very post sale)

          On the Sales side, equipment would be demo-ed and lent by the most competent and professional staff in the business. I never had any one in the pre-sales for and instrument LIE to me in any way. Would gladly inform me of the limitations of there products. (And in not a to boastful way would try to point out weakness in the competition but this was from pride and not BS. Never had an HP sales rep bad-mouth Tektronix for example.

          I recently helped my wife purchase a multifunction printer from HP (LaserJet M3035 MFP). This is just big enough that these models are not stocked in stores like Best Buy, Microcenter, Frys and the like. We chose to purchase from the toll free phone number found on the HP website. The experience we had was appalling. I don't believe that I was ever told any truth about any thing during this experience. It started with slick double talk that would make a used car salesmen on the 3AM movie sick. (I already picked out the unit, and all that was needed to be done was to enter the job/sales order). The larger part of the stupidly encountered was that we were shipped 2 units (we only ordered 1). We refused delivery on the 2nd unit. Fortunately we use my wife's business American Express Card for this purchase, as far as the billing AMX fixed it. HP tried to bill us for both units, then backed off to the shipping costs .. (shipping was included in the purchase price at the time of purchases). Turned into a major fiasco .

          A friend shared with me that they believe that this is due to the Compaq sales culture that HP 'got' from the merger/acquisition. I do not know if this is true but it is a far cry from the HP of yester year.

          My last dealings with Agilent have been still good but is has deteriorated from the slandered set by the old HP.
          • I worked in a similar setting when I was a student selling computer equipment (not with HP). Its true that there are a lot of scrupulous sales people (usually not there for long .... or depending on how the company works .... promoted) for commission and non-commission jobs. They often lie or make up stuff because they don't know the answer, don't care about customers, need to boost their own sales. Desperation shows (sometimes) incompetency. And they don't get repeat customers.

            I'd suggest, next time you're

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by anothy ( 83176 )

            I recently helped my wife purchase a multifunction printer from HP (LaserJet M3035 MFP).

            i don't know what the structure of HP actually is, but it very much seems like they've got two unrelated groups working on printers/scanners/&c vs. multi-function thingies. their printers have always been, and continue to be, solid; their MFP things have always been awful (not the least of which is installing obnoxious software on your computer and making half the functionality depend on using it). anyone with knowle

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Enderandrew ( 866215 )
        Compaq did in fact send out a similar email, and after the disastrous merger was complete, they also promised not to close down the facilities here in Omaha, despite announcing that they were going to outsource production facilities. Shortly after promising us that all of our jobs were safe, they laid everyone off.

        • Re:Heh... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Cheeko ( 165493 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @01:37PM (#23392990) Homepage Journal
          On the flip side for us Digital folks who had been under Compaq, HP was a return to much more what Digital was like than what Compaq was. It was kind of like putting up with 5 years of people saying "the culture won't change" while they tried to change it, to finally going back to a similar culture.

          I think more than anything it has to deal with where the companies priorities are.

          Compaq's priorities were obviously its PC business, so the Unix/Linux/VMS/etc etc folks felt like they were getting the corporate culture shaft. Then after the HP merger the culture became much more focused on services and enterprise business, so suddenly everyone at traditional Compaq felt their culture was being crushed because the focus was elsewhere.

          If HP's focus really is on growing its services, then there is a decent chance that the culture might stay fairly in tact (they want them for how they are). If instead they simply plan on using EDS as a tool for driving other business goals, then there is a fair chance of being pulled into the same corporate culture.

          As a final note as a DECPaq HPer. I much preferred HP's culture under Mark Hurd to the culture at Compaq. He's a cost cutter, but he's also made for a very efficient productive well focused company. More than Carly ever did for sure. Even HP's innovations seemed to have started coming back, with some of the recent announcements in nano computing, etc.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by thesolo ( 131008 ) *
        All that high-fructose corn syrup is terrible for you anyway.

        HP did you a favour, drink water instead!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Serapth ( 643581 )
        So, EDS folk: welcome to the company. Say goodbye to your sporks. They can take my sporks, really they make a lousy spoon and an even worse fork. That said, they would have to pry the blates from my cold dead hands!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AJWM ( 19027 )
      I wonder if Digital's and Compaq's CEO's sent out a similar e-mail when they got bought out by HP :)

      Digital wasn't bought out by HP, it was bought out by Compaq.

      But yeah, a moot point in the long run.

  • I hope HP is smarter than GM (Score:5, Interesting)

    by maurert ( 515791 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:50AM (#23391094)
    As an HP employee I hope HP is smarter than GM was. Remember the GM bought EDS in the 80s and EDS milked GM for all it was worth. EDS did great; GM not so. Of course GM thought it was buying a company to outsource its IT to while HP is looking to merge outsourcing operations with EDS.

  • Yay! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:51AM (#23391106)
    Yay! An alternative to IBM Global Services from the maker of some really good servers. Too bad it's EDS, well at least it's not Accenture!

    Go Ross Perot!

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by morgan_greywolf ( 835522 ) *

      Go Ross Perot!
      Ross Perot no longer has anything to do with EDS. He sold out his stake to GM many, many years ago.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Creepy ( 93888 )
        He was still on the board of directors after selling his stake to GM. I checked today and it doesn't appear he is on the current board of directors, though (he is Chairman Emeritus of Perot Systems).

  • I admit, this amuses me... (Score:3, Informative)

    by NecroPuppy ( 222648 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:54AM (#23391132) Homepage
    Seeing as one contract of EDS's, NMCI, just finished (or is real damn close to finishing) a tech refresh of the computers they provide.

    We all got new Dells.

    • Re:I admit, this amuses me... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by HangingChad ( 677530 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:15AM (#23391356) Homepage

      NMCI, just finished (or is real damn close to finishing)

      About freaking time. NMCI is to technology what Iraq is to foreign policy. A bloody, never-ending contractor boondoggle that cost the taxpayers billions while providing no long term value. You could bury NMCI and SPAWAR in the same hole and the world would be a better place.

      NMCI aside I think this is a positive development for both companies. It will provide an alternative to Dell Consulting and a big project support source that isn't married to MS. It's a real foot in the door for HP on a lot of big projects. Nicely done.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by rot26 ( 240034 )
      Better check again. EDS isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's getting an even bigger slice of the NMCI pie to fuck up. I always thought we'd just be better off letting AOL run the NMCI network, and stick advertisements all over everything. I'm pretty happy with my Dell workstations, though... I guess this will mean we'll be using HP's at the next tech refresh.

  • So long DELL? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Quetzo ( 753720 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:55AM (#23391140)

    Looks like HP is moving into IBM/DELL territory ( managed IT services ). I'm not too worried for IBM.

    DELL, on the other hand, has a real fight on its hands. So.. umm... Mike.. why don't you forget about your small business services crap and go back to focus on making good machines and providing good customer service.

    I don't know if EDS was the best vehicle to use, but its better than trying to setup something new.

    • Re:So long DELL? (Score:4, Informative)

      by maxume ( 22995 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:13AM (#23391346)
      IBM does $54 billion in services.

      EDS does $22 billion in services.

      HP does $17 billion in services.

      Dell does $6 billion in services.

      The deal probably isn't quite about Dell.

    • Re:So long DELL? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:30AM (#23391534)

      It used to be that Dell sold decent computers for decent prices. They grew because they were cheaper than HP or IBM and used more commodity parts than Compaq. These days parts are getting cheaper and cheaper, and the desktop isn't as profitable due to really low margins. IBM foresaw that and sold off their PC business. That coupled with the fact that most PCs built in the last 5 years are good enough for most consumers who are not gaming so people don't need to replace their PCs anytime soon. Also, Dell has, for better or worse, tied their success to Windows. Vista now constitutes a significant amount of the cost of new PC as hardware prices drop. Even though Dell offers XP on new machines, they've already paid for the more expensive Vista (which includes downgrade rights).

      It's ironic that Dell and Apple have switched places from 10 years ago where Apple was in trouble and Dell was riding high. Apple computers are price competitive if you compare them feature for feature; it's that Apple, for most part, focuses their efforts on higher end models and laptops which have better margins and avoided the pricing wars on the low end.

      For Dell to remain, they have take some risks. I won't suggest that they sell off all the assets and give the money back to the shareholders that Dell suggested to Apple ten years ago.

      • Re:So long DELL? (Score:4, Informative)

        by Fozzyuw ( 950608 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:16PM (#23391998)

        Apple computers are price competitive if you compare them feature for feature;

        Oddly, every time I price out a Mac Book Pro, it's well over $1,000 more than it's PC counter part. Case in point... the 17" Mac Book Pro 2.5Ghz Core 2 Duo starts at $2,799. I priced out a 17" Dell Inspiron 17" 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo and it came up to ~$1,700 with 3-year accidental damage warranty. When I configure the Mac Book Pro to have more similar features (4GB ram, 3-year Apple Care Warranty, etc), the price jumps too $3,348.00 So, how are Mac's Price comparable? That's $1,600 more than the Dell laptop.

        For that $3,348.00, you can get a cutting edge AlienWare (a Dell acquisition) with multiple video cards, RAID HD's, etc. So, what am I seeing wrong that makes the Dell Inspiron system not comparable, hardware for hardware, to the Mac Book Pro? Easy enough to load Ubuntu on the Dell giving it a "geek" OS.

        Serious question. I've been wanting a Mac Book Pro, but the prices are astronomical compared to PC laptops.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by barzok ( 26681 )
          Look at other points on the spectrum. I've been keeping an eye on Dell for a laptop for my wife because I get a discount through my employer. Configured with nearly identical specs to my MacBook, the Dell price is within 10% of the MacBook.

          Unfortunately, my wife refuses to use MacOS so I can't just get her a MacBook - I have no idea how she'll cope with the XP to Vista transition.
        • Dude, everyone knows that you have to price up the PC to the Mac and not the other way around!

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Sandbags ( 964742 )
          First of all, the 2.4 GHz 17" macbook pro is not available, 2.5 is the current model at the same price, so comparing a 2.4 dell to the $2799 Macbook, of course it's going to be comperable or cheaper in price.

          OK, compare this instead:

          Apple 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo 17" system:
          - 2.5GHz core 2 duo w/ 6MB L2 cache, 800MHz front side bus
          - 2GB 677MHz DDR2 Ram (support 4GB)
          - 250GB 5400RPM drive standard ($50 more for a 200GB 7200 which would be prefered by me and is included in below price point)
          - 1680x1050 display (or fo

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Fozzyuw ( 950608 )

            Here's what I priced out (and what I was refering too in my post)...

            Dell Inspiron 1720
            Cost: $1,654

            SYSTEM COLOR - Espresso Brown
            PROCESSOR - Intel® Coreâ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
            OPERATING SYSTEM - Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
            DISPLAY - High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200)
            VIDEO CARD - 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
            MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
            HARD DRIVE Size: 320GB SATA Har

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Fozzyuw ( 950608 )
              ps... You can select the 2.5GHZ processor for (I think it was) $120 more than the 2.4GHZ. That's still not bringing the MacBook Pro back in-line, price wise.
            • OK, same vid card, but half the vid RAM and a slower clock speed, 1/2 the processor cache, only a 5400RPM drive (the 7200rpm 200GB is $50 more), no dual layer DVD support, No media center software, no photo editing suite, no DVD authoring software, no video editing software, no remote control for when you connect it to a TV or projector, no DVI to VGA adapter, No firewire, no backlit keyboard, it's 3 lbs heavier, thicker, and 1/2" wider. ...and exactly how long DO you think it will run on a 56 watt hour bat
              • Oh, btw, on the 1750, the Sound Blaster Sound card 1) has no native vista driver set, and 2, unless you add a device to your ONLY Expresscard expansion slot, the sound card is actually a SOFTWARE engine, using the CPU instead of dedicated hardware... Read the fine print!

                As for the 56 watt battery, you can "upgrade" to a 89 watt 9 cell unit for $189 extra... You're required to do so to support "some hardware features" (namely 3D graphics and the DVD burner, neither of which operate on the 56 watt battery)

                A
        • The Inspiron isn't comparable to the Mac Book Pro, though. The Inspiron is more along the lines of the Mac Book. I always thought that the Latitude was closer in line with the MBP, but I don't really know of any Dell products that come with the same quality as a MBP.

          If you want to get closer to an apples-apples comparison, you really have to move towards laptops like thinkpads.

        • As I see it, the laptop market operates in four segments, purely on price-points:- a) micro ones ( less than S$1000, that's Singapore dollars), b) entry-level ones (S$1000 - S$2000), c) mid-range ones (S$2000 - S$3000), d) high-end models (S$3000+)

          MacBookPro is in (d), while MacBook straddles (b) and (c) without quite being (c). (That is to say, it's at the higher-end of the entry-level segment, and I position it there mostly coz it has an integrated Intel graphics card; all models in (c) have dedicated gr

      • It's ironic that Dell and Apple have switched places from 10 years ago where Apple was in trouble and Dell was riding high. Apple computers are price competitive if you compare them feature for feature; it's that Apple, for most part, focuses their efforts on higher end models and laptops which have better margins and avoided the pricing wars on the low end.

        What are you talking about? Apple is doing well as a company largely because they got into the music business. Apple PC sales are up, because the Apple brand is up, again because of their music venture. Corporations don't buy Apple computers largely.

        And last time I checked, Dell wasn't in trouble. Vista bombed, but Dell said that they would continue to see XP even if Microsoft says they can't anymore. Dell was happily selling Windows 2000 licenses well after Microsoft said everyone must go XP. What D

        • Your "better monitor" is smaller than any Cinema Display has ever been, and it is almost certainly a TN panel, meaning that it's color gamut and viewing angles suck in comparison to the Cinema displays. The Cinema displays aren't at all targeted towards gamers and budget buyers who don't care about picture quality. They are for people who would like to get something almost as good as an Eizo for half the price.

        • What are you talking about? Apple is doing well as a company largely because they got into the music business. Apple PC sales are up, because the Apple brand is up, again because of their music venture. Corporations don't buy Apple computers largely.

          Apple's computer hardware division accounted for 40% of their revenue last quarter. Yes, they make money on their iPod related products but even if they had no iPod, they would still be profitable.

          Again, I'm not sure where you get this. When I worked for Har

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mgblst ( 80109 )
        It's ironic that Dell and Apple have switched places from 10 years ago where Apple was in trouble and Dell was riding high.

        Great post, but that is not ironic. It is not even uncommon.
  • I don't know who ED is, but dude just got rich!

  • The day after. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by demachina ( 71715 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:58AM (#23391170)
    "We are -- and will remain -- EDS."

    Until the day after the merger, the execs cache out, and the infighting between the remaining managers starts. Executives on the bottom end of the merger always do one of two things:

    - Cash out
    - Try to outmaneuver the execs on the top end of the merger and take over the whole company, with a lot of bitter intrigue in the process

    You have to wonder how current EDS customers who are attached to their non HP hardware and software will feel about this when EDS suddenly has a massive bias to drive every nail with an HP hammer.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dan Ost ( 415913 )
      Every EDS supported machine I've seen in the last 6 years was either Compaq or HP.

      So, I guess what I'm saying is that nothing will change.

      • Every EDS supported machine I've seen in the last 6 years was either Compaq or HP.

        So, I guess what I'm saying is that nothing will change.

        Well, I know several people who work for EDS.

        Dell and Sun equipment isn't uncommon, depending on the customer and what they need. Who knows what that will mean going forward, but, some of their big customers aren't going to be told what machines to run things on -- some of them are pretty big organizations.

        Cheers

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by njcoder ( 657816 )
          Dell's probably going to take a larger hit than Sun. Customers may still want some of Dell's lower end servers and desktops where HP can't compete on price. While HP's desktops and x86 servers can easily replace Dell's, there are more dependencies and loyalties when it comes to Unix. With Unix, it's not just the hardware but also the OS.

          When HP comes up with marketing to get Solaris customers, the plan is to migrate them to Linux, not HP/UX. I don't think that HP has put the same effort into HP/UX that
        • I worked for EDS for 5 years. They leased Dell laptops for their employees, and generally support whatever their customers choose for equipment.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Danathar ( 267989 )
      This is not a bad thing. Having worked for EDS in the 90's I can tell you that ANYTHING is better than that overbloated stuffed shirt company.

      Working for EDS is well known as the ninth hell of IT. HP is probably further up in Dante's list but I'm sure it IS futher up.

    • Re:The day after. (Score:4, Funny)

      by AchilleTalon ( 540925 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:21PM (#23392054) Homepage

      You have to wonder how current EDS customers who are attached to their non HP hardware and software will feel about this when EDS suddenly has a massive bias to drive every nail with an HP hammer.
      "Hitting your thumb is equally painful whatever the hammer's brand."

      - Confuscius -

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sgtrock ( 191182 )

      - Try to outmaneuver the execs on the top end of the merger and take over the whole company, with a lot of bitter intrigue in the process

      Isn't that what the Compaq execs did to HP? :)

    • "You have to wonder how current EDS customers who are attached to their non HP hardware and software will feel about this when EDS suddenly has a massive bias to drive every nail with an HP hammer."

      If they're EDS customers already, they probably can't find there arse with both hands and won't care if they're shipped a system which doesn't work, whether it's built on Dell/HP/whatever - Her Majesty's Government, I'm looking at you.

  • The view from Dallas (Score:3, Informative)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:03AM (#23391228) Homepage Journal
    The Dallas Morning News, EDS' hometown paper, is carrying the announcement [dallasnews.com] as well. Kinda soft-peddling it, with a rather dismissive note at the bottom about the Bad News:

    During a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Mr. Rittenmeyer said there will probably be some job cuts as a result of the deal.

    But he suggested they might not be extensive, noting that H-P and EDS don't currently overlap in many business areas.

    "In terms of job cuts, we are continuing to streamline our workforce at EDS," Mr. Rittenmeyer said. "We've been doing that for some time. There obviously are going to be some changes. We had plans for that this year. We're going to continue to look at automation. We're going to continue to look at quality. Automation makes quality and service better for the client. It's just a natural evolution."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jedidiah ( 1196 )
      If you're at EDS you're already stressed out and worrying about your job being
      shipped out to Bangalore. Being bought out by HP doesn't really impact this. The
      same people eyeballing Green Acres are still eyeballing Green Acres.
    • "Automation makes quality and service better for the client."

      Excepting of course on example of "automation" is you get to punch endless numbers on a telephone when you call customer support and it takes a small miracle to actually talk to a human being, and of course there is a fair chance that person will be sitting in India and have no clue what they are talking about, they were hired because they work cheap and can speak English, sort of, after all.

      All in all I think that is a stuffed shirt talking, and
  • The NMCI [wikipedia.org] contract for EDS had them rolling out a bizillion Dell-branded desktops and laptops to people in the Navy and Marine Corps. I wonder if Dell just saw a massive revenue stream get shifted to HP?

  • this seals it: HP is now a Texas Company (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ralph Spoilsport ( 673134 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:09AM (#23391288) Journal
    They were the essence of silicon Valley, having invented a work/life system that was the envy of the industry. Then Carly came along and fucked the place up. Merging with compaq was NOT a victory for HP, but was a major move for Compaq. The pay curves and HR policies were downgraded to compaq levels, and now HP is a shell of its former self. I wouldn't be surprised if after buying EDS they move the HQ from Palo Alto to Houston or Dallas.

    Very very sad.

    RS

  • Funded entirely with profit from ink sales (Score:3, Interesting)

    by laing ( 303349 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:11AM (#23391318)
    HP makes about $10B per year in profit from ink alone. They make another $6B or so from everything else so they could easily afford this transaction. It does raise some eyebrows though because EDS has IT support contracts with lots of big companies. If EDS starts exclusively providing/supporting HP products, competitors (think Dell) might have grounds to complain to the DOJ.
  • EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer said he is going to get a pair of over sized rubber earlobes to put on and print some pie charts on 8x10 paper. He hopes that would be enough to get 17% of the vote in the coming presidential election. If he could get a retired admiral who turns off the hearing aid during vice-presidential debate it would be a dream ticket!
  • MAN, and EDS laid me off a few years ago. If they hadn't, I'd have still been there, and gathered some of the stocks they toss at every employee to make it seem like the crap wages that we got weren't as bad. Wouldn't everyone who currently has stocks in EDS have just gotten a healthy paycheque?

  • employee speaking (Score:4, Funny)

    by C0vardeAn0nim0 ( 232451 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:28AM (#23391520) Journal
    as an employee, all i want to know is when we here at EDS will be able to buy HP gear with employee's discount...

    20% off on a laser printer would be sweeeet!!!
  • EDS better not be like hp and up intel drivers on amd systems like how they did and it messed up XP sp3.

  • Transcript of the final phone negotiations: (Score:3, Funny)

    by Ancient_Hacker ( 751168 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:07PM (#23391890)
    EDS: 16?
    HP: No, how about 12?

    EDS: 15?
    HP: You're getting warmer, how about 13?

    EDS: 14?
    HP: Okay, that sounds good, but we don't have 14 ink cartridges here, how about 14 billion in cash?

    EDS: Well, ok......

  • Not the $53 billion that Yahoo Yang wanted for his bonus, but still a good mansion. The more our CEO's make, the richer we feel. Meanwhile, get ready for another surge of unemployed Texasahans in Silicon Valley. Maybe they'll break the $6000 rent barrier.

  • Remember when HP used to be about quality equipment and scientific research and innovation? HP Labs?
    Yeah, I miss those days. What's next, buying their way into the lucrative "Tickle me Elmo" market?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cheeko ( 165493 )
      HP labs has been on a roll lately, where have you been?

      Crossbar-latch? Memristor? (both featured here)

      Its very possible that the fundamental shifts in computing over the next 10-15 years will come about heavily from technology coming out of the labs.

      At last count the labs were turning out something like 10,000 patents a year.

  • What's EDS? (Score:3, Informative)

    by the JoshMeister ( 742476 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @01:40PM (#23393040) Homepage Journal

    Since I had never heard of EDS, I figure a lot of other Slashdot readers probably haven't, either. Here are some interesting tidbits about the company, courtesy of Wikipedia:

    • * EDS is short for Electronic Data Systems
    • * EDS defined the outsourcing business when it was established in 1962 by Ross Perot
    • * EDS catalogs its services into three service portfolios which are Infrastructure, Applications and Business Process Outsourcing
      • * Infrastructure services includes maintaining the operation of part or all of a client's computer and communications infrastructure, such as networks, mainframes, "midrange" and Web servers, desktops and laptops, and printers
      • * Applications services involves the developing, integrating, and/or maintaining of applications software for clients
      • * Business process outsourcing includes performing a business function for a client, like payroll, call centers, insurance claims processing, and so forth
    • * Most of EDS's clients are very large companies and governments that need services from a company of EDS's scale. EDS's largest clients include General Motors, Bank Of America, KarstadtQuelle, Kraft, United States Navy, the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal Dutch Shell

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by anothy ( 83176 )
      EDS has also had their hands in a whole bunch of other sub-industries, too. they've sold off lots of their smaller divisions over time, but they used to do pretty much any kind of IT service you could think up.
  • This should be enough to change their slogan from "invent" to "outsource". Given that Hurd has come from a similar (read:worker-hostile) climate at NCR, he's little different than Carly. Perhaps he should rediscover that bit of humanity once known to exist at HP and NCR.
  • EDS is an infamously bad place at which to work; check out http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/EDS/05390c183c137e1e747b46 [indeed.com] Typical (pre-merger) quote: "My spouse was RIF'd at the end of January after 8 years of putting in overtime and everything. He hopes they go down the tubes, to be quite honest."

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