I've been reading updates on the ongoing IIPM fracas in the blogosphere with some interest. Whatever the truth about IIPM's advertisements (and from the posts I've seen, IIPM can hardly defend itself; the problem is such false advertising is fairly rampant :-(), their going after the bloggers was simply out-of-line. However, thinking over things this past day, one thing sticks out like a sore thumb for me. All the stories seem to highlight that Gaurav Sabnis (one of the affected bloggers) resigned from IBM, and although he disclaims that IBM had anything to do with his resignation, the implicit line being towed by the many bloggers (and the mainstream media that has begun to cover this) is that IBM had somehow applied pressure on him to resign, and whether or not they applied pressure, that IBM had a moral obligation to stand up against IIPM's pressure tactics and to defend their employee's basic freedom of speech. The fact that IBM is often the face of American capitalism, and that freedom of speech is a cherished (and sometimes forcibly exported) American value, seems to add an implicit irony to these references. (Maybe I'm reading too much into this? :-))
Which may be all be fine, except, none of these stories seem to demarcate that Lenovo is not IBM! IBM sold it's PC division to Lenovo. Somewhat like the Manto's satire on partition, Toba Tek Singh, what happened as part of that sale is that what was IBM (India) one day, became Lenovo (Pakistan) the next, and those who were working for IBM's PC division now work for Lenovo. (Of course, this change had none of the acrimony of partition, just the tremendous love of money changing hands ;-).)
From Washington Post's coverage of the sale:
Which may be all be fine, except, none of these stories seem to demarcate that Lenovo is not IBM! IBM sold it's PC division to Lenovo. Somewhat like the Manto's satire on partition, Toba Tek Singh, what happened as part of that sale is that what was IBM (India) one day, became Lenovo (Pakistan) the next, and those who were working for IBM's PC division now work for Lenovo. (Of course, this change had none of the acrimony of partition, just the tremendous love of money changing hands ;-).)
From Washington Post's coverage of the sale:
Under the terms of the deal, Lenovo would pay $650 million in cash and up to $600 million in common stock. Lenovo would also assume $500 million in IBM liabilities. Once the transaction closes, Lenovo would have about 19,000 employees. About 10,000 IBM employees -- more than 40 percent of whom are already in China and less than 25 percent of whom are in the United States -- would join Lenovo.There is a hand off period where IBM is allowing Lenovo to continue to use the IBM (and Think) brand names, but Lenovo is its own company. From the CNET story:
Lenovo will be the preferred supplier of PCs to IBM and will be allowed to use the IBM brand for five years under an agreement that includes the "Think" brand. Big Blue has promised to support the PC maker with marketing and via its IBM corporate sales force.I managed to make the error of thinking that IBM was involved as well, so I'm not sure I blame others for their initial references to IBM in the context of this story. But with all the wonderful facts being dug up on IIPM and its founders by bloggers (and this is solid work by them), maybe it's time to set the record straight and take IBM out of the picture?
- Note: Most of the links on the IIPM story are via Desi Pundit and Amit Varma (i.e., they did all the hard work).
- Obligatory Disclaimer: These views are mine and mine alone (i.e. I do not speak for anyone else).
