Photos: Computer Variations Through The Years
Twenty-five years ago, Apple released the Macintosh, and the company was never the same. The model pictured here is actually the Macintosh 512k, which was almost exactly the same as the original Macintosh introduced in January 1984, but Apple increased the memory from the 128K shipped on the original model, earning it the nickname "Fat Mac."
The Macintosh Plus made its debut in 1986 with 1MB of memory and a SCSI (small computer system interface) port for adding peripherals like hard drives or printers. Note the color change on this particular model from the Macintosh 512k's beige to gray.
The next evolution to the Macintosh form factor was the Macintosh SE, which brought dual floppy disk drives to the Mac and dropped that phone cord port on the lower front panel in 1987. A later revision to this design, the SE/30, was voted as the "Best Mac Ever" by a panel of Macworld contributors this week.
The Macintosh II series, introduced in 1987, dropped the all-in-one monitor and computer design in favor of a desktop look. Shown here is the IIx model, which cost $7,800 in 1988 with 1MB of RAM.
Apple's first attempt at a notebook was not a commercial success, but it is noteworthy for its historical significance to the company. The Macintosh Portable came out in 1989 weighing in at almost 16 pounds. It cost about $400 a pound.
Apple decided to get back into the low-cost computer market around 1990, hence the introduction of the LC line. This is the LC II, which ushered in an era of smaller chassis for Apple and would eventually be replicated under the Performa brand later in the decade.
The company didn't take its eye off the high-end market, however, introducing the Quadra series in 1991. One notable feature on this Quadra 700 was the introduction of an Ethernet jack, which would come to be the standard for cable networking.
Portable computing inside Apple got a little more serious with the introduction of the PowerBook 100 series. This model, the PowerBook 170, was the high-end version of Apple's first PowerBook models introduced in late 1991, and much easier to tote than the Macintosh Portable at around 7 pounds.
PowerBooks got even smaller in 1992 with the introduction of the PowerBook Duo series (the 210 model is shown here). These notebooks weighed just 4 pounds and used docking stations in order to eliminate as many ports as possible from the notebooks themselves. Former Apple employee and current blogger Chuq Van Rospach called this model one of his favorite Macs of all time.
Long before Apple experimented with Apple TV as a hobby, it introduced Macintosh TV as an attempt to blend a computer and a television. It didn't work out so well after being introduced in October 1993 which, coincidentally or not, was around the time Apple's market share started to head south for a decade.
Introduced in 1994, the Power Macintosh 6100 was the first Mac to use a PowerPC chip in the first historic processor architecture switch Apple would make in 25 years of the Mac. It was designed as a high-end desktop to replace the Quadra and set the stage for a decade of computers designed around the PowerPC architecture.
Just before Steve Jobs returned to Apple to rescue the struggling company, Gil Amelio unveiled this Mac to celebrate Apple's 20th anniversary as a company in 1997. Few were made, and at $9,000 to start, few were sold. Apple eventually dropped the price more in line with the rest of the Macintosh lineup and sales picked up, but this computer appeared to be more about design than profit.
Perhaps the most significant computer introduced by Apple during the 1990s, the original iMac all-in-one design made its debut in 1998 alongside a beaming Steve Jobs. The multicolored design, introduction of USB ports, and emphasis on simplicity brought a lot of buzz back to Apple, and this model set the stage for the company's desktop computing design strategy that persists today.
Jobs' design influence was clearly being felt as the 1990s came to a close, with this Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White replacing a very drab model of the same name as Apple's high-end desktop product. The side of this machine swung down for easy access to the innards of the system.
This colorful design, clearly inspired by the original iMac, was Apple's consumer laptop product for 1999: the iBook 3G. It resembles later student-laptop designs such as the XO Laptop and Intel's Classmate PC and came with integrated wireless networking, which would eventually become ubiquitous but was a rare thing in 1999.
In 2000, Apple introduced one of its most distinctive designs ever: the Power Mac G4 Cube. "Cube," for short, was one of the more beloved and bedeviled Macs ever made. It had a huge following among many Mac fans but was plagued by faint lines on the exterior that some felt were cracks and others felt were blemishes. Apple discontinued the Cube in 2001 after noting that buyers seemed to prefer the slightly cheaper Power Mac G4 minitower.
Apple's design philosophy started to change around 2001, when it shifted away from multicolor hues with the introduction of the PowerBook G4. Various metals were introduced as the basis for the chassis, with the titanium PowerBook arriving first, followed by this aluminum model.
At the same time, Apple eschewed multicolor designs in the consumer desktop category with the introduction of the white plastic iMac G4 in January 2002. This model also introduced the concept of a flat-panel display atop a flexible arm and base, which held the electronics.
This striking design holds the most powerful computer Apple had ever made at the point it was introduced in 2003. That design was required, however, because of the significant heat thrown off by the G5 processor. Apple and IBM were unable to crank the G5 processor up to 3GHz as Jobs had promised, setting the stage for Apple's second great architecture shift.
Apple's attempt at minimalism surfaced with the Mac Mini in 2005, a small spare box sold with no peripherals for just $499. The Mac Mini has never been a huge seller, but it is a favorite of Mac hobbyists who like to modify their machines or use them as home-entertainment servers.
The modern era of the Mac officially began in January 2006, when Apple introduced its first Intel-based computer. The iMac (Intel) was essentially the same design as the iMac G5, which dropped the flexible arm from the iMac G4 in favor of an all-in-one design in which the circuitry was placed directly behind the display.
Apple's thinnest and lightest notebook ever, the MacBook Air was introduced in January 2008 inside a manilla envelope. In order to get it that small, Apple had to make some concessions on design, such as the lack of a CD drive and just two USB ports, but it also introduced a new gesture-based trackpad that borrowed ideas from the iPhone.
The current crop of Apple's MacBook lineup is based on a new unibody design cut from a single block of aluminum. Also noteworthy is the single-button trackpad, in which the trackpad itself is the mouse button.
The Macintosh Plus made its debut in 1986 with 1MB of memory and a SCSI (small computer system interface) port for adding peripherals like hard drives or printers. Note the color change on this particular model from the Macintosh 512k's beige to gray.The next evolution to the Macintosh form factor was the Macintosh SE, which brought dual floppy disk drives to the Mac and dropped that phone cord port on the lower front panel in 1987. A later revision to this design, the SE/30, was voted as the "Best Mac Ever" by a panel of Macworld contributors this week.The Macintosh II series, introduced in 1987, dropped the all-in-one monitor and computer design in favor of a desktop look. Shown here is the IIx model, which cost $7,800 in 1988 with 1MB of RAM.Apple's first attempt at a notebook was not a commercial success, but it is noteworthy for its historical significance to the company. The Macintosh Portable came out in 1989 weighing in at almost 16 pounds. It cost about $400 a pound.Apple decided to get back into the low-cost computer market around 1990, hence the introduction of the LC line. This is the LC II, which ushered in an era of smaller chassis for Apple and would eventually be replicated under the Performa brand later in the decade.The company didn't take its eye off the high-end market, however, introducing the Quadra series in 1991. One notable feature on this Quadra 700 was the introduction of an Ethernet jack, which would come to be the standard for cable networking.Portable computing inside Apple got a little more serious with the introduction of the PowerBook 100 series. This model, the PowerBook 170, was the high-end version of Apple's first PowerBook models introduced in late 1991, and much easier to tote than the Macintosh Portable at around 7 pounds.PowerBooks got even smaller in 1992 with the introduction of the PowerBook Duo series (the 210 model is shown here). These notebooks weighed just 4 pounds and used docking stations in order to eliminate as many ports as possible from the notebooks themselves. Former Apple employee and current blogger Chuq Van Rospach called this model one of his favorite Macs of all time.Long before Apple experimented with Apple TV as a hobby, it introduced Macintosh TV as an attempt to blend a computer and a television. It didn't work out so well after being introduced in October 1993 which, coincidentally or not, was around the time Apple's market share started to head south for a decade.
Introduced in 1994, the Power Macintosh 6100 was the first Mac to use a PowerPC chip in the first historic processor architecture switch Apple would make in 25 years of the Mac. It was designed as a high-end desktop to replace the Quadra and set the stage for a decade of computers designed around the PowerPC architecture.Just before Steve Jobs returned to Apple to rescue the struggling company, Gil Amelio unveiled this Mac to celebrate Apple's 20th anniversary as a company in 1997. Few were made, and at $9,000 to start, few were sold. Apple eventually dropped the price more in line with the rest of the Macintosh lineup and sales picked up, but this computer appeared to be more about design than profit.Perhaps the most significant computer introduced by Apple during the 1990s, the original iMac all-in-one design made its debut in 1998 alongside a beaming Steve Jobs. The multicolored design, introduction of USB ports, and emphasis on simplicity brought a lot of buzz back to Apple, and this model set the stage for the company's desktop computing design strategy that persists today.Jobs' design influence was clearly being felt as the 1990s came to a close, with this Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White replacing a very drab model of the same name as Apple's high-end desktop product. The side of this machine swung down for easy access to the innards of the system.This colorful design, clearly inspired by the original iMac, was Apple's consumer laptop product for 1999: the iBook 3G. It resembles later student-laptop designs such as the XO Laptop and Intel's Classmate PC and came with integrated wireless networking, which would eventually become ubiquitous but was a rare thing in 1999.In 2000, Apple introduced one of its most distinctive designs ever: the Power Mac G4 Cube. "Cube," for short, was one of the more beloved and bedeviled Macs ever made. It had a huge following among many Mac fans but was plagued by faint lines on the exterior that some felt were cracks and others felt were blemishes. Apple discontinued the Cube in 2001 after noting that buyers seemed to prefer the slightly cheaper Power Mac G4 minitower.Apple's design philosophy started to change around 2001, when it shifted away from multicolor hues with the introduction of the PowerBook G4. Various metals were introduced as the basis for the chassis, with the titanium PowerBook arriving first, followed by this aluminum model.At the same time, Apple eschewed multicolor designs in the consumer desktop category with the introduction of the white plastic iMac G4 in January 2002. This model also introduced the concept of a flat-panel display atop a flexible arm and base, which held the electronics.This striking design holds the most powerful computer Apple had ever made at the point it was introduced in 2003. That design was required, however, because of the significant heat thrown off by the G5 processor. Apple and IBM were unable to crank the G5 processor up to 3GHz as Jobs had promised, setting the stage for Apple's second great architecture shift.Apple's attempt at minimalism surfaced with the Mac Mini in 2005, a small spare box sold with no peripherals for just $499. The Mac Mini has never been a huge seller, but it is a favorite of Mac hobbyists who like to modify their machines or use them as home-entertainment servers.
The modern era of the Mac officially began in January 2006, when Apple introduced its first Intel-based computer. The iMac (Intel) was essentially the same design as the iMac G5, which dropped the flexible arm from the iMac G4 in favor of an all-in-one design in which the circuitry was placed directly behind the display.Apple's thinnest and lightest notebook ever, the MacBook Air was introduced in January 2008 inside a manilla envelope. In order to get it that small, Apple had to make some concessions on design, such as the lack of a CD drive and just two USB ports, but it also introduced a new gesture-based trackpad that borrowed ideas from the iPhone.The current crop of Apple's MacBook lineup is based on a new unibody design cut from a single block of aluminum. Also noteworthy is the single-button trackpad, in which the trackpad itself is the mouse button.
Google keeps its one-trick pony healthy
Google gets knocked for being a one-trick pony--the vast majority of its revenue comes from search advertising--but its strong fourth-quarter results showed what can be done by making sure cultivation of that business isn't hurt by diversification efforts.
The company on Thursday reported net income of $382 million for the quarter, a major drop from $1.21 billion from the year-earlier quarter. But that apparent drop was mostly because of two non-cash charges writing down the value of investments in AOL and Clearwire by $726 million and $355 million, respectively. Factoring that and some other charges out, the company had net income of $1.62 billion, well over analyst expectations, with revenue excluding commissions rising 4.5 percent to $4.22 billion.
Wait a minute. Wasn't there supposed to be a recession happening or something? How did Google do well, if not actually knock the ball out of the park?
In short, Google had two things going for it. First, people performed more Google searches. Second, when they did, Google showed the search ads more often.
Google makes money when people click on the textual ads next to search results; advertisers bid against each other to have their ads shown when people search with particular keywords. More searches obviously means more opportunities to show ads, and the company had "strong search query growth," Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on a conference call.
Keep searchers coming
To keep searchers coming, Google has to keep its search engine competitive. The company made more than 350 improvements to it in 2008, said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's senior vice president of product management. And Google has been turning up the volume knob on what calls universal search, the blending of video, book excerpts, images, news, blog postings, and other material besides Web sites into search results.
"We tripled the number of queries that triggered different kinds of results," Rosenberg said of 2008.
Google still sees plenty of room for improvement in search, though. "Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of a phrase and not just the words you type?" asked Schmidt. And the company wants better search from mobile devices.
Keep advertisers paying
On the advertising side of the equation, Google must balance two forces: showing lots of ads versus showing better ads. High-quality, relevant ads are more likely to draw clicks and to train people that they should pay attention to search ads, but focusing on quality at the expense of quantity can hurt revenue. Google has been adjusting its "coverage"--the fraction of searches that get ads--as it tinkered with quality levels and launched new technology to come up with relevant ads more often, but in the fourth quarter, coverage increased.
"Ad coverage dipped earlier in the year," but ad-matching improvements helped Google increase coverage, Rosenberg said. Coverage is now back to where it was at the beginning of 2008, he said, but now with better quality.
Bear in mind Google already was ahead of its top rival, Yahoo, with coverage. The big driver for Yahoo's search-ad deal with Google, a partnership that was squelched by federal antitrust concerns, was that Yahoo wanted to use Google's technology to show ads where its own showed nothing.
Cutting costs
Google's search-ad business subsidizes a sprawling array of services and projects, but the company is becoming more discriminating about what to support. It's closed many projects that didn't pass muster, even those such as with direct potential revenue such as Google's print-advertising system.
Schmidt declared Google showed "tight controls over most costs" in the quarter, "something that had eluded us, but we got it down now." Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette dodged a question about whether the cost cuts are mostly over or just begun, but so far it appears Google is more nibbling around the edges.
Added Rosenberg, Google pays more attention to how it spends its money with a careful review process. "The review process is now a part of how we do business," he said.
That's not to say Google isn't expanding. It's still betting heavily on online services such as Google Apps, its online competitor to Microsoft Office, and on Android, its mobile-phone operating system, and on many lower-profile projects.
Retaining employees
Employees, evidently, are another investment. Google has slowed hiring--the company increased its employee count by only 99, to 20,222 in the quarter--but it doesn't want to lose them to others who can offer better benefits. The fact that Google's stock price has plunged in the last year and a quarter meant many employee stock options became effectively worthless.
Stock options let employees buy company stock over a period of time at a price set when the options were granted. If the stock drops, these options are "underwater"; the more it drops, the less incentive they provide for employees to stick around as new batches of options become available. Schmidt said 85 percent of Google employees have at least some underwater stock options.
For that reason, Google offered an exchange program that lets employees exchange their worthless stock options for ones based on Google's current price--a move that Google expects to pay $490 million to fund over the course of the program.
"Part of the compensation is stock. That's how it happens in high-tech, and it needs to have some value over the long term," Schmidt said.
The big unknown
Google can control its technology and its expenses, but the economy remains a big unknown factor. Here, despite Google's contention that search ads offer a clearer return on investment and therefore are not as susceptible to tightened advertising budgets, Schmidt offered a new dose of caution.
In the fourth quarter, the economy was in "uncharted territory," Schmidt said, but now, "It's clear we're in a recession. We don't know how long this period will last."
One thing is apparent, though. Google has a strong business engine that produces abundant cash, and Google is working hard to keep that engine purring.
The company on Thursday reported net income of $382 million for the quarter, a major drop from $1.21 billion from the year-earlier quarter. But that apparent drop was mostly because of two non-cash charges writing down the value of investments in AOL and Clearwire by $726 million and $355 million, respectively. Factoring that and some other charges out, the company had net income of $1.62 billion, well over analyst expectations, with revenue excluding commissions rising 4.5 percent to $4.22 billion.
Wait a minute. Wasn't there supposed to be a recession happening or something? How did Google do well, if not actually knock the ball out of the park?
In short, Google had two things going for it. First, people performed more Google searches. Second, when they did, Google showed the search ads more often.
Google makes money when people click on the textual ads next to search results; advertisers bid against each other to have their ads shown when people search with particular keywords. More searches obviously means more opportunities to show ads, and the company had "strong search query growth," Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on a conference call.
Keep searchers coming
To keep searchers coming, Google has to keep its search engine competitive. The company made more than 350 improvements to it in 2008, said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's senior vice president of product management. And Google has been turning up the volume knob on what calls universal search, the blending of video, book excerpts, images, news, blog postings, and other material besides Web sites into search results.
"We tripled the number of queries that triggered different kinds of results," Rosenberg said of 2008.
Google still sees plenty of room for improvement in search, though. "Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of a phrase and not just the words you type?" asked Schmidt. And the company wants better search from mobile devices.
Keep advertisers paying
On the advertising side of the equation, Google must balance two forces: showing lots of ads versus showing better ads. High-quality, relevant ads are more likely to draw clicks and to train people that they should pay attention to search ads, but focusing on quality at the expense of quantity can hurt revenue. Google has been adjusting its "coverage"--the fraction of searches that get ads--as it tinkered with quality levels and launched new technology to come up with relevant ads more often, but in the fourth quarter, coverage increased.
"Ad coverage dipped earlier in the year," but ad-matching improvements helped Google increase coverage, Rosenberg said. Coverage is now back to where it was at the beginning of 2008, he said, but now with better quality.
Bear in mind Google already was ahead of its top rival, Yahoo, with coverage. The big driver for Yahoo's search-ad deal with Google, a partnership that was squelched by federal antitrust concerns, was that Yahoo wanted to use Google's technology to show ads where its own showed nothing.
Cutting costs
Google's search-ad business subsidizes a sprawling array of services and projects, but the company is becoming more discriminating about what to support. It's closed many projects that didn't pass muster, even those such as with direct potential revenue such as Google's print-advertising system.
Schmidt declared Google showed "tight controls over most costs" in the quarter, "something that had eluded us, but we got it down now." Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette dodged a question about whether the cost cuts are mostly over or just begun, but so far it appears Google is more nibbling around the edges.
Added Rosenberg, Google pays more attention to how it spends its money with a careful review process. "The review process is now a part of how we do business," he said.
That's not to say Google isn't expanding. It's still betting heavily on online services such as Google Apps, its online competitor to Microsoft Office, and on Android, its mobile-phone operating system, and on many lower-profile projects.
Retaining employees
Employees, evidently, are another investment. Google has slowed hiring--the company increased its employee count by only 99, to 20,222 in the quarter--but it doesn't want to lose them to others who can offer better benefits. The fact that Google's stock price has plunged in the last year and a quarter meant many employee stock options became effectively worthless.
Stock options let employees buy company stock over a period of time at a price set when the options were granted. If the stock drops, these options are "underwater"; the more it drops, the less incentive they provide for employees to stick around as new batches of options become available. Schmidt said 85 percent of Google employees have at least some underwater stock options.
For that reason, Google offered an exchange program that lets employees exchange their worthless stock options for ones based on Google's current price--a move that Google expects to pay $490 million to fund over the course of the program.
"Part of the compensation is stock. That's how it happens in high-tech, and it needs to have some value over the long term," Schmidt said.
The big unknown
Google can control its technology and its expenses, but the economy remains a big unknown factor. Here, despite Google's contention that search ads offer a clearer return on investment and therefore are not as susceptible to tightened advertising budgets, Schmidt offered a new dose of caution.
In the fourth quarter, the economy was in "uncharted territory," Schmidt said, but now, "It's clear we're in a recession. We don't know how long this period will last."
One thing is apparent, though. Google has a strong business engine that produces abundant cash, and Google is working hard to keep that engine purring.
Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju’s letter to the board
Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju sent a letter today to the board of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. admitting to major financial wrong-doings and resigned. The letter is reproduced below. (Note : The letter comes from unconfirmed source)
To the Board of Directors
Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
From B.Ramalinga Raju
Chairman, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
January 7, 2009
Dear Board Members,
It is with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to you notice:
- The Balance Sheet carries as of September 30,2008
- Inflated ( non-existent) cash and bank balances of Rs.5,040 crore (as against Rs. 5361 crore reflected in the books)
- An accrued interest of Rs.376 crore which is non-existent
- An understated liability of Rs. 1,230 crore on account of funds arranged by me
- An over stated debtors position of Rs.490 crore (as against Rs. 2651 reflected in the books)
- For the September quarter (Q2) we reported a revenue of Rs.2,700 crore and an operating margin of Rs. 649 crore (24% of revenues) as against the actual of Rs. 2,112 crore and an actual operating margin of Rs. 61 Crore ( 3 % of revenues). This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balance going up by Rs.588 crore in Q2 alone.
The gap in the Balance Sheet has arisen purely on account of inflated profits over a period of last several years (limited only to Satyam standalone, books of subsidiaries reflecting true performance). What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of account continued to grow over the years. It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of company operations grew significantly (annualized revenue run rate of Rs. 11,276 crore in the September quarter,2008 and official reserves of Rs. 8,392 crores). The differential in the real profits and the one reflected in the books was further accentuated by the fact that the company had to carry additional resources and assents to justify higher levels of operations-thereby significantly increasing the costs.
Every attempt made to eliminate the gap failed. As the promoters held a small percentage of equilty, the concern was that poor performance would result in a take-over, thereby exposing the gap. It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.
The aborted Maytas acquisition deal was the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones. Maytas’ investors were convinced that this is a good divestment opportunity and a strategic fit. Once Satyam’s problem was solved, it was hoped that Maytas’ payments can be delayed. But that was not to be. What folloqed in the last several days in common knowledge.
I would like the Board to know:
- That neither myself, nor the Managing Director (including our spouses) sold any shares in the last eight year - excepting for a small proportion declared and sold for philanthropic purposes.
- That in the last two years a net amount of Rs. 1,230 crore was arranged to Satyam ( not reflected in the books of Satyam) to keep the operations going by resorting to pledging all the promoter shares and raising funds from known sources by giving all kinds of assurances (Statement enclosed, only to the members of the board). Significant dividend payments, acquisitions, capital expenditure to provide for growth did not help matters. Every attempt was made to keep the wheel moving and to ensure prompt payment of salaries to the associates. The last straw was the selling of most of the pledged share by the lenders on account of margin triggers.
- That neither me, nor the Managing Director took even one rupee/dollar from the company and have not benefited in financial terms on account of the inflated results.
- None of the board members, past or present, had any knowledge of the situation in which the company is placed. Even business leaders and senior executives in the company, such as, Ram Mynampati,Subu D, T.R. Anand, Keshab Panda, Virender Agarwal, A.S. Murthy, Hari T, SV Krishnan, Vijay Prasad, Manish Mehta, Murali V, Sriram Papani, Kiran Kavale, Joe Lagioia, Ravindra Penumetsa, Jayaraman and Prabhakar Gupta are unaware of the real situation as against the books of accounts. None of my or Managing Director’s immediate or extended family members has any idea about these issues.
Having put these facts before you, I leave it to the wisdom of the board to take the matters forward. However, I am also taking the liberty to recommend the following steps:
- A Task Force had been formed in the last few days to address the situation arising out of the failed Maytas acquisition attempt. This consists of some of the most accomplished leaders of Satyam: Subu D, T.R. Anand, Keshab Panda and Virendra Agarwal, representing business functions, and A.S. Murthy, Hari T and Murali V representing support functions. I suggest that Ram Munampati be made the Chairman of this Task Force to immediately address some of the operational matters on hand, Ram can also act as an interim CEO reporting to the board.
- Merrill Lynch can be entrusted with the task of quickly exploring some Merger opportunities.
- You may have a ‘restatement of accounts’ prepared by the auditors in light of the facts that I have placed before you.
I have promoted and have been associated with Satyam for well over twenty years now. I have seen it grow from few people to 53,000 people, with 185 Fortune 500 companies as customers and operations in 66 countries. Satyam has established an excellent leadership and competency base at all levels. I sincerely apologize to all Satyamites and stakeholders, who have made Satyam a special organization, for current situation. I am confident they will stand by the company in this hour of crisis.
In light of the above, I fervently appeal to the board to hold together to take some important steps. Mr. T.R. Prasad is well places to mobilize support from the government at this crucial time. With the hope that members of the Take Force and the financial advisor, Merill Lynch (now Bank of America) will stand by the company at this crucial hour, I am marking copies of this statement to them as well.
Under the circumstances, I am tendering my resignation as the chairman of Satyam and shall continue in this position only till such time the current board is expanded. My continuance is just to ensure enhancement of the board over the next several days or as early as possible.
I am now prepared to subject myself to the laws of the land and face consequences thereof.
(B. Ramalinga Raju)
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