Computer Wars: The Fall of IBM and the Future of Western Technology

Reading more like a consultant's report than a popular narrative, this densely written analysis suggests that small, maverick companies, rather than giants, have the best chance to lead the computer business. At first, Morris ( The Coming Global Boom ) and computer consultant Ferguson draw on anonymous, inside sources to chronicle the decline of IBM, blaming mainly the corporation's managers but also trade barriers raised by both the U.S. and Japan. Then the authors look more broadly at the industry. Noting America's edge in innovation and software, and Asian advantages in manufacturing, they suggest that the battle will be over ``architectures''--the standards that define computer networks--and explore business strategies to control those standards. Only in the final chapters do Ferguson and Morris address industrial policy: they propose a ``pro-technology policy agenda'' that supports basic research and intervenes to prevent other countries from establishing cartels over crucial components. Even more important to industrial growth, the authors note, is a reordering of federal spending in areas such as health care. Author tour. (Feb.)