Introducing Roundtable

This article from the April 1986 issue of Hardcopy magazine covers the inaugural "Roundtable" forum, an industry initiative organized by Seldin Publishing to facilitate direct dialogue between Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) users and manufacturers.

The primary point of contention at this meeting, held at the California Institute of Technology, was DEC’s recent move toward a "closed" architecture with its new BI bus. Industry attendees and users expressed significant concern that this policy would restrict the availability of third-party products and limit innovation. While representatives from companies like Unbound Inc. and DILOG acknowledged the technological advancements of the new systems, they, along with executives from Dyna Five Corp., criticized DEC’s licensing policies and the difficulty of procuring key components like J-11 chips.

Ultimately, the meeting highlighted a major shift in the industry as manufacturers voiced frustrations over DEC's competitive stance against its own OEMs. The forum concluded with a commitment from Hardcopy to continue holding these discussions to address ongoing market trends and tensions within the DEC community.