November 2, 2025
Nineties memo, modern meltdowns
Autodesk's John Walker Explained HP and IBM in 1991
HP adrift, IBM scorched: a 1991 memo becomes today’s clapback
TLDR: An old Autodesk memo blasting profit-chasing and deaf leadership is being applied to HP and IBM. Commenters split: some say IBM’s fine while HP flounders, others torch both for “dog vomit” products and Wall Street-first thinking—turning a 90s warning into today’s corporate reality check.
A 1991 memo from Autodesk founder John Walker just crash-landed in 2025, and the crowd is living for the drama. The article argues HP and IBM are stuck in “lead-from-behind” mode, ignoring their own people and worshipping short-term profits over real strategy. Commenters immediately turned it into a corporate roast. ghaff says HP is “adrift” after its boardroom soap opera, while IBM has done “decently” post-Rometty—a gentle not dead yet vibe. kragen goes full flamethrower: both are alive but their products are “dog vomit,” and the memo’s line about “confusing the scoreboard with the game” became an instant meme. rawgabbit piles on Wall Street: the companies chase margins by cutting costs, then act surprised when sales slide. Meanwhile yodon pivots to the money math, arguing this might just be a wake-up call on bloated sales costs rather than existential doom. The geekier crowd drops receipts: Walker’s original IL14 and a CAD deep dive from WillAdams via Shapr3D. The consensus? Stop playing with spreadsheets and start building things people want. Also: executives, please listen to the troops for once. Walker’s fortress-in-Switzerland memo just became the internet’s latest “I told you so.”
Key Points
- •The column applies John Walker’s 1991 “Information Letter 14” to analyze strategic issues at HP and IBM.
- •Walker’s memo argues that companies must anticipate shifts in user expectations, platforms, and distribution channels or be supplanted.
- •It emphasizes leading through a clear company mission rather than emulating competitors.
- •Walker warns that open-door policies fail if employees believe management isn’t listening or communicating long-term rationale.
- •The article notes Walker’s memo influenced Bill Gates’s “The Coming Internet Tidal Wave,” which led Microsoft to challenge Netscape.