< A href="http://www.siliconvalley4.com/">Silicon Valley 4.0 is a one-day conference where technology leaders and thinkers get together and discuss the future of technology. According to C|Net, this yearis theme seemed to be Darwinian in nature, as those present discussed the idea that tech companies must adapt quickly or perish.
The symposium is sponsored by the Churchill Club and Garage Technology Ventures, the investment company created by one-time Apple evangelist, Guy Kawasaki. Also in attendance was John Sculley, former Apple CEO and current partner in Sculley Brothers, an investment firm. Of particular interest to Mac users is what Mr. Sculley and Mr. Kawasaki had to say about some of the choices Apple made in the early days. From the C|Net News article, VCs: Darwin rules tech jungle:
In the early days of the industry, some companies tried to place more emphasis on idealism than survival. Sculley and Garage Technology partner and former Apple executive Guy Kawasaki both said that Apple executives really didnit think of profit first during the heady days of the 1980s.
"Our emphasis wasnit about making money. It was about changing the world," Kawasaki said.
At the same time, Apple was making decisions that would come to haunt it, Sculley said. It chose not to adopt Intel chips, for instance.
"It was probably one of the biggest strategic mistakes Apple ever made," he said. Sculley also complimented Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Michael Dell, founder of computer maker Dell.
"Michael Dell had the insight that innovation wasnit just about cool technology. It was also about innovating on logistics," Sculley said. "Bill was a much better competitor and much smarter at understanding a sustainable business model," Sculley said of Gates.
Read the full article at C|Net.