Tech Tycoon Slams Entrepreneur's Reinvented ‘Slim PC’ | Dragons’ Den

[@wcmatthysen]

After John left the building he went to have a drink at a coffee shop nearby and saw something he had never seen in his life before: a laptop.

[@christinewatson1989]

I used to work at a starbucks and there was this guy who would come in regularly and bring his WHOLE computer- plug the big ass tower in then set up his monitor and keyboard and work there all day.

[@BigBoss7777777]

@@christinewatson1989 lies

[@Stinking82]

WTF is a laptop?! :o

[@jonathanrayne]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cybtb]

Probably thought the laptop was an oversized inferior calculator.

[@colinobrien2938]

Who else is watching in 2021 on their wood paneled Slim PC?

[@Evilflesh666]

Dude i love my wooden slim pc

[@rohielshah1779]

If the monitor has some wood finishing and you put high end stuff in it, there is a niche rich people market for it.

[@shaz2761]

Me. I am. It's brilliant.

[@the_endling]

On my brick ipad but close 😜

[@ScottOSaurus]

I got the fully loaded 8 track home media edition

[@ItsEllaBella]

He came in with a cash register and was trying to sell it as a PC.

[@team3383]

my thoughts exactly. Don't think ANYTHING was inside that "PC". He was trying for 190'000.- investment to set up a company that would dress up thin PC's with plywood and had already prepared his answer as to whether they could plug it in or not..... An empty aluminium box with an old screen - LOL.

[@leandrasmith893]

😂😂😂😂

[@jasongoodacre]

Haha, stop, you're killing me.

[@ayoutubesubscriberhore9285]

What a legend

[@misterdipster4241]

Thx, TeamGlobalhawk, now I remember which item it looks like. He took one and glued some planks on it to turn a nice cash register ugly. Art might be good or bad in the eye of the spectator...but design follows rules and the design of that pitch item insult my eyes and obviously Peters judgement.

[@salemkid1979]

looks like someone's vision of the future from the 1970's.

[@deerdrickprancer295]

😂😂😂

[@williamgeorgefraser]

I didn't know that Dragons Den existed in the 1980s. You learn something new every day.

[@DukeDudeston]

I was about to say, he is a few decades out.

[@becxification]

😂😂😂

[@Clavinovaman]

1970s, Id say...

[@kurusmusic]

this is actually 2017.

[@Hughesmeister1]

Kurus this wasn’t 2017 - it was 2004/05. Simon Woodroffe was only in season 1 which aired in early 2005. So the filming probably took place in 2004, not 2017.

[@fenhen]

“Let’s take a laptop, remove the keyboard, make it bigger and not portable, then add some wood”

[@oz_jones]

Mmmmm, woodgrain.

[@thomasmason8481]

Don’t forget the brushed aluminium

[@franklynpatterson3265]

And call it slim

[@davidmcquaid7862]

Lollll

[@wvrjl]

Basically.

[@skteam-z6n]

Being from 2004 this still looks dated

[@nickmacky]

It looked prehistoric even in 2004!

[@Mathijs303]

2004, I was looking for this comment, thanks

[@haweater1555]

@B B Especially Peter Jones's hair.

[@xistencestudios8904]

It's 2020, you probably never seen it. That just shows it's a fail

[@Cavscout101]

Makes me feel better that this is from 2004 and not 2014.

[@marktime8301]

So basically this is like the PC equivalent of Homer's car...

[@ayefo7800]

YES!!!!! Where's the 50 cup holders??????🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@YTGhostCensorshipCanSuckMe]

ha ha ha

[@YTGhostCensorshipCanSuckMe]

Homers car was more useful.

[@KumaBean]

The Simpsons at the parade; Marge: 'You see all of those wires and stuff inside of that robot? That's' why your robot never worked'

[@pkarverful]

😂🤣🤣

[@psivewri]

The iMac G4 came out 2 years before this... How the heck could he call his creation a 'slim' pc?

[@FlyboyHelosim]

Fancy seeing you in here! Small world! But going back to your comment, for a long time Macs and PCs were seen as different beasts so from what I remember it was a fairly slim design for back then.

[@sloppynyuszi]

Flyboy if you watch LGR, LCD PCs existed in the late 90s already. Didn’t pick up, but existed.

[@FlyboyHelosim]

@@sloppynyuszi Yes I do watch LGR and yes slim designs existed. The PC design has been reinvented time and time again and just because something exists doesn't mean a similar concept can't exist alongside it. In a lot of places these slim PC designs are only just surfacing.

[@FlyboyHelosim]

@@jbird4478 Well yes I understand that. It was also because Apple used PowerPC and not the x86 architecture.

[@Tapio86]

Macs are not PCs...

[@pizzaboy4463]

And this was around 7 years after the iMac came out.

[@mrm5183]

Are you saying the IMac was around in 1998? This episode is around 15yrs old it’s 2005/6

[@aquacruisedb]

@@mrm5183 Yeah, I think he was saying exactly that. And the iMac original launch was in 1998...so I'd say he was spot on!!

[@casperes0912]

Sep Tember That is when the first iMac came out, so yes... The G3, I have one in my closet, though mine is a ‘99 model

[@pizzaboy4463]

@@mrm5183 yes, according to Google.

[@direktaberfair]

@@mrm5183 Wanted to sound like a smartass. The facts made you an ass, not smart.

[@iamlegend68]

It would be good if Dragons’ Den included the original air date in the description of videos. Even for 2004 this still looks like something from the lates 80s. Oh.. and there’s nothing “slim” about this

[@wvrjl]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@imnobodywhoareyouu]

The wooden parts scream 1980s

[@LockonKubi]

For extra salt in the wound, the iMac g4 came out in 2002 with a similar form factor, and the more familiar iMac g5 came out in 2004. A quick Google even says Sony had a similar all in one that year too

[@alizcool1]

I don't like it aesthetically he says with his wolverine sideburns

[@MrBooBeeDoo]

Lol

[@user-ug1yq6zt5t]

Mutton chops lol

[@joebutler7749]

I'm out, bub

[@chrischarlescook]

🤣👍

[@sujaysukumar123]

Lol

[@BenjaminGoose]

6:29: "You mentioned you're a doctor. I actually think you need one" Peter is a savage.

[@MJazz28]

BenjaminGoose 😂🤣😅

[@yankis.]

Peter is Gordon Ramsay of Dragon's Den

[@boglurker2043]

the show was at its best when duncan and peter were on because they weren't afraid to share their honest opinion and be confrontational. ever since duncan went off the other dragons have been more hesitant on offending the pitchers. boring.

[@paullangton-rogers2390]

I would have said go back to being a doctor and stop designing badly designed PC's, doctors make a good living don't waste your time spent on a doctors degree.

[@craiggerrard5117]

@@MsMaryPatricia Actually, medical doctors should not use the title unless they have earned it with a doctoral degree, which most of them do not possess. It's only because we do not have a separate term like medicin in France for example that it is used here at all. Someone with a PhD has as much right, if not more, to use the title than someone with a Bachelors medical degree.

[@warriorx86]

Who else is watching this slim PC on their smartphones now 😛

[@gmy33]

I have a slimphone

[@martinmcgettigan3212]

Phones are for suckers, slim pcs are the way forward

[@johncoffey724]

🤣

[@honesthonest9363]

Tu ek Lan hai. Q

[@SEMIA123]

Watching this on my watch

[@codye541]

Slapped a TV on top of an Atari and called it a revolutionary computer device

[@jasongoodacre]

I bet it comes preloaded with Asteroids.

[@musek5048]

@@jasongoodacre just give me the original Oregon Trail and i'm set

[@thealien_ali3382]

Lol

[@8-bitsteve500]

an Atari what?

[@BenjaminGoose]

@@8-bitsteve500 Yes, an Atari.

[@lukejones5053]

So what he's done , is glued a monitor to a tower ? 😂

[@scootsmcgoots]

And added some lumber to it.

[@WobblesandBean]

It looks like he took apart an easy chair, used the armrest to attach the two together, then slapped wood on the sides. It's absolutely hideous.

[@acorrales1380]

I feel like this is the beginning of an origin story of a Super-villain.

[@itaiweinberg4127]

That's literally the plot of Iron Man 3

[@ghw1985]

@@itaiweinberg4127 we both know how that ended

[@BigBrianStormer]

It looks like what a designer in the '50s would think a computer of the future would look like

[@technohow6494]

Even at that time, it looks dated.

[@prg2812]

If British Leyland made a PC, it would have looked exactly like this.

[@bill1682]

PRG that’s why he didn’t turn it on. It won’t start

[@awaister]

It looked more like a piece of furniture than a pc

[@blenderboy1900]

Mad to see how far technology had progressed in less than 20 years

[@chickenandchips8802]

Ikr

[@danielgalgano8463]

Even crazier to see how far Peter's haircut has progressed in about 20 years.

[@HyperMario64]

​@jonathanbirch2022 Yeah, have a look at netbooks at that time or the iMac G5. There was already nothing to be done on the form factor side, and this is not even close to good. Since then we got these System-on-Chip with computers the size of a credit card, which would have been a cute innovation back then.

[@DanNic88]

@@danielgalgano8463 it’s a syrup nowadays isn’t it?

[@ic1815]

*Duncan’s laugh* after Peter says “you mentioned obviously you’re a doctor? I actually think you need one” 😩💀

[@davidb1626]

Brilliant

[@AudreyMealiff]

Just brilliant! My 2 favourite dragons.

[@pepethunder]

“Whats your doctor in?” “Well, it’s a mixture of…” “Ok, I’ve heard enough”

[@Ashadow700]

A lot of people laugh at investors who pass on amazing tech opportunities, such as when Xerox did not see the potential in the PC. But really, for every "Xerox passes on the PC", there is going to be like 50 tech pitches like this one.

[@seasonedbeefs]

They dropped postscript too

[@vibovitold]

50? Try 1000 :)

[@Ayoosi]

This SlimPC was quite the innovation in 1984.

[@flabbybum9562]

True, but I don't think it was his innovation. He just attached someone else's screen to a regular mini homemade base unit using some wood, and called it a ground breaking innovation.

[@Johnny_murrays_cousin]

I’d like you to imagine what it’s like to have a head shaped like a strawberry .

[@asmrchouette202]

😅🙈

[@jyotinaylor]

😂

[@personalpc7439]

lol

[@TraceLight]

Keith Heeney I cant unsee that, duck you.

[@Johnny_murrays_cousin]

Sound of Reason 🦆 u . 😂

[@angusking1593]

Jenny: I'd like you to imagine I'm out.

[@pachma405]

Dragons don't have any imagination.

[@Charlieb82]

Think she faxed it in, but unfortunately the Dr hadn't invented the wood panelled fax machine yet....

[@JohnChoidotOrg]

1:58 "What's your PhD in?" 'It's a mix of a lot of things.' lol...what?!

[@lurkzie]

He has a PhD in bullshiting

[@ing9545]

He has 3 phds 😂😂😂😂😂 the mixture sounds made up

[@DanNic88]

Carpentry is one

[@Jessebella1]

Back in 1975 he might have stood a chance with this!

[@armchairgeneralissimo]

The IBM 5100 would have given him a run for his money

[@uztube0]

Imagine if he dropped it on the way out

[@BenjaminGoose]

It's such a shame he didn't. Even if it were scripted I wouldn't care.

[@EvpopUDIeXx]

Probably look better afterwards

[@paullangton-rogers2390]

I would have expected the Scottish dragon to say, can I ask if you include any woodworm treatment with these, or is that an optional extra? And err what happens when the monitor eventually dies? The whole unit is useless, or are you going to go place them on warranty??

[@SkyfallHD36]

Or rather he threw it at the ground in frustration

[@CabbageYe]

@@SkyfallHD36 No that's not as funny.

[@dbadaddy7386]

I tried making a private label PC in the early 90s. The market was so competitive that I would literally be making pennies on some machines, but I had the good sense to stop before spending any money. You can't buy dozens of motherboards and compete against organizations that buy thousands unless you are building very niche products.

[@draculastraphouse7863]

The fact that you even considered making your own PC in the first place is actaully insane, what were you thinking 🤡🤡🤡

[@wadedevinney9681]

What was the name of the computer if I may ask? Funny enough it might be worth something to rare retro tech collectors these days

[@hakim6158]

Imagine a gamer who built his gaming PC walking in trying to pitch his build to the dragons

[@SUPERIONWINS]

There is an equally cringy Kickstarter for a 'sphinx' gaming pc. Very painful to watch but very hilarious. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6jPpHmoaq9-jtk

[@HunterWGC]

@@SUPERIONWINS Thank you - but jesus... should I be thanking you??

[@BenKellyMusic92]

A gaming PC would be a trillion times better investment than this hunk of junk! xD

[@thealien_ali3382]

@@SUPERIONWINS thank u buddy

[@joshroberts5540]

At least a gaming pc accomplished something. This “thing” doesn’t do anything worthy to justify its unique existence.

[@cars_and_coffee_by_bruno]

He stole a register from the local McDonalds and slapped some wood on the sides.

[@potawatadingdong]

This looks like the most dated machine I've seen in years.

[@aleddavies770]

potawatadingdong this was filmed pre 2010

[@badda_boom8017]

This was from about 12 years ago. Peter still has his original hair!

[@FlyboyHelosim]

I think that's partly the point and there's nothing wrong with having a retro look, 10x better than shitty RGB and water cooling.

[@munky342]

@@FlyboyHelosim not sure where you've been living, but water cooling is much more efficient.

[@sl6840]

Someone mentioned it's from 2004

[@sl6840]

"How can you not see the genius of my design! - I'm a DOCTOR!"

[@havefuntazarasu5367]

Ok doctor dre

[@ikemotosystems1434]

Guy: It is gonna be a success, chaps. NARRATOR: "It wasn't."

[@brettwilkinson9529]

"It is going to be a success chaps !" , ...then leaves the room and heaves his 1980's montronsity into the carpark dumpster .

[@NoContextRDH]

Can never be as slim as Dougs glasses. Look at those things.

[@cvanicky90]

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed! Those things are SLIM!!!! Idk how they don't break

[@bobbybellingham2074]

Legend has it that these days he's selling the new brand technology of color TV's

[@thealien_ali3382]

I heard he's selling first generation android phones as a new product 🤣

[@benjammin9471]

I recently saw him selling this brand new time keeping technology you wear on your wrist

[@RetroVisionist]

Probably trying to revolutionize the market of analog televisions.

[@PortlandMan]

I just bought a Slim PC! Can't wait for it to arrive!

[@vrg1337]

Has it arrived yet? You should post a review. How many DVDs can you burn to the hard drive?

[@40avo]

“Now I’d like you to imagine that you’ll never get your money back”

[@Macephtopheles]

"So, an unusual rough ride in the Dragons' Den..." When the basement troll is saying that about the pitch at the end you can tell it's a first season episode. (Other than it being the original Dragons present, obviously...) Later on the basement troll would be Puns-R-Us with "A typically un-PC roasting for the entrepreneur sees him leaving with not even slim pickings from the Dragons as he secures no offers."

[@TheGearsofwar2010]

the basement troll 😂😂

[@msstarlight4770]

👏👏👏👏👏💜😄👍👍

[@Jehannum2000]

I reckon you could get a job as Evan's scriptwriter.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

@@Jehannum2000 Wouldn't be a difficult job.

[@andrewturner7128]

"It uses the same technology, but we've designed the box to be even uglier. Please give me your money."

[@alib1919]

This whole pitch was SO painful to watch! They never even asked if he had sold any or anything 😅 Poor chap 😅

[@ajinkyagauns2280]

It's a prototype

[@franklynpatterson3265]

Thry didn't have to ask

[@vibovitold]

If he did, he would have told them within the first 30 seconds : )

[@alib1919]

@@ajinkyagauns2280 Pre-orders?!

[@Electroporcupine]

...laptops existed when this was produced.

[@manisingh4567]

The imacs in 2005 were thinner, this mans bonkers

[@gnack420]

@chris brady that's exactly his point you dork

[@novarl5082]

chris brady are you dumb

[@DocBree13]

Hell - my family had an Apple IIe in 1983 that looked a lot better than this!

[@harveyk3789]

Brenda Paduch don’t look like you were around in 1983 ;))

[@MrEverton1878]

He just described a laptop but brought in a mini shed

[@MrBooBeeDoo]

Lol, I was waiting for this one. Dr. John Garside. What a legend.

[@travelnurseluca4748]

Doug: “My friend wants to know if you can use it to talk to adolescents without it showing a trail of it so they won’t get caught. Again just asking for a friend.”

[@kurtcobane1762]

"it will be a success chaps" company dissolved in 2010

[@CXLDMUSIC]

😂😂Imagine rocking up at a LAN with that beast😂😂

[@melindastephen6929]

“His only chance is Peter Jones..” oh hell no haha you could just tell by the look on his face that it was all over

[@Randomaccount9470]

That's called a laptop buddy even back in 2004, 😂

[@psoteriou3884]

Who needs to watch comedy when we've got DD episodes like this? I laughed from beginning to end! Comedy gold!

[@DiP2011]

Two years before that Apple introduced the iMac G4. THAT was a Slim PC.

[@gracemorganspeaks]

Wonderful and lovely content Dragons den. Whoever is reading and feels stressed, lonely, despised, sick and in pain. You will overcome be strong

[@Clo_Dub]

If this was presented in the seventies there would have been audible gasps in that room

[@thealien_ali3382]

Girl Ur beautiful 💖

[@BonesEsquire]

This guy said imagine like 100 times in the first two minutes

[@chrislaw4189]

Actually only 4 times.

[@halestrum77]

Imagine if the product didn't suck

[@greyhound4204]

@@chrislaw4189 imagine if it was 5

[@Nabil-eg3jm]

Chris Law Bet you’re fun at parties..

[@ellessandraramsay1841]

Imagine you are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!

[@davidsands5938]

looks like a cash register and a station wagon had a baby

[@millicentbystander2177]

Can't tell if this is suuuuuuuper old or if he's somehow never seen a laptop in this day and age

[@MyFoodeater]

It's from 2004

[@AlphaCentauri24]

Super old

[@DellaWatson-cz3mq]

Yea super old, but I'm sure we had laptops back then... Can't remember tbh

[@unwelcomemotivation]

The first consumer laptop was released in 1981 LOL

[@tumblesthecat9421]

@@unwelcomemotivation Yes, but laptops then weren't what we're used to. Although it might not seem long ago, laptops were much bulkier even in 2004 compared to today's standards

[@misterpete8001]

The moment he introduced himself as doctor...I just thought what a nob

[@Tommybotham]

So why not call yourself just “Pete”?

[@misterpete8001]

@@Tommybotham lol I'm actually titled doctor but I prefer mister

[@JohnChoidotOrg]

He didn't even say what he got his PhD in. What a pretentious scam artist.

[@misterpete8001]

@@JohnChoidotOrg lol I think he said it was biology with a bit of computing. I just thought what a nob

[@benbooth2783]

Why shouldn't you tell people about your achievements? It's hard to get a PhD.

[@ShanGrz]

"I've got 15 years as a designer.. that's not a finished thing". Why did he switch to talking about his beard line?

[@youknowthemroundcirclethin9036]

6:30 Duncan's laugh is epic 🤪

[@thestarshavefallen]

Wow, this aged well!

[@CoachBobbyFinstock]

1960's- one day every house will have a home computer system like this..

[@househendoe7549]

If Duncan presented this in his Primary School science fair it would be revolutionary. Also one of my Top 5 Peter burns right here lmao.

[@dandarwood197]

I can’t imagine this didn’t look dated then, let alone now. How did this guy imagine he’s actually capture any of the market.

[@BarakaAndrew]

he really needs a dr. this guy could be a time traveller from 1998

[@katem1202]

It's feom 2004.

[@Garycarlyle]

its a really old video

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Maybe it was Doctor Who

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

@@TomorrowWeLive Yeah I think that's what he was alluding to ... duhh.

[@swag8724]

Bro made a Gateway Profile 5.5 and thought he was the new microsoft .... lol

[@soilcredibility]

Think of the websites Doug Richard could look at on this slim PC.

[@doctorsocrates4413]

This reminds me of the "very PC" pitch which appeared in the den years later and that ended badly also..

[@craigferrie7480]

"That was the single least defensible proposition I've ever seen in my adult life." Haha, what an epic line!! :o)

[@FlameFlickers]

Although, in hindsight, Doug Richard's propositioning schoolgirls to meet him in a hotel for sex is possibly less defensible.

[@phunkyfeelone]

It looks like it's made from the box that a proper PC arrived in

[@briansmith5239]

Lol, Peter was a savage! And Duncans reaction. 😂

[@Pittato]

It’s weird watching these old episodes. You google the company and there’s always a fake website saying they made millions. This company dissolved in 2010

[@connorcoleman0379]

Looks like one of the screens from Star Trek the next generation

[@Speculativedude]

It looks like the cash register I used when I worked for KFC back in 2002.

[@dangray25]

lol

[@guypainter]

"Hey dragons, I've got this wheel that I invented, and the really cool thing about this wheel that makes different from all the others... this one's *round!*

[@D5DRIFT]

Peter Jones at the end, "oh, my, god! "

[@OverRun666]

1:35 bros voice changed from a high voiced pitch to a deep reply to Duncan

[@spellywelly]

Peter giggling away like a schoolboy in the back row 😂

[@xili0966]

why did he bring a power cord if he won't turn it on?

[@hypethekomodo6495]

Man, this still hurts to watch. Imagine having the swagger to march in with that thing from the 1980s, max, and asking for 190,000 pounds. Has...has he never ventured into a retail store and seen just how slim towers even at the time were, and we're not even talking laptops here?

[@moboy4779]

"John now faces a battle to get Rachel Elnor to invest." Doesn't everyone? LOL

[@effess8698]

Dr John's LinkedIn profile says "I have a rare balance of technical knowledge and commercial astuteness". He must have got that some time after this episode. But then he did make a pretty successful career as a boogie woogie piano player

[@reconforsales7708]

20 years later i am still yet to see a design like this- wow

[@campbellfulton5602]

You may laugh but this was in 1974. This guy was visionary 😂

[@Rucarlos]

It looks straight out of the 90s. Not to mention he's tackling a market that's already served by micro ITX, laptops and tablets

[@draconis2364]

This reminds me of an entrepreneur with a similar product on my country's version of Dragon's Den where a trap door is used with unsuccessful entrepreneurs (they fall through the trap door, never to be seen again). When his pitch wasn't getting any interest, he began getting desperate, saying "Please don't send me through the trap door, please! Look, I can juggle (he dropped the objects he was juggling), I can do this (he attempted a cartwheel, but fell), and I can alsoaaahhh", at which point he was sent falling through the trap door because the last Dragon was out.

[@dm4728]

Brilliant idea, straight into a tank of slim would be hillarious

[@faithpaul7927]

Its Peter trying to hide his laughter 😂 its funnier cuz his hair is giving me schoolboy vibes 😂.

[@midimusicforever]

Watching this on my slim PC.

[@moltderenou]

After having recorded it on the enclosed Betamax video recorder ?

[@mithrylmoonlight]

Ladies and gentlemen: the creator of the Mini-ATX form factor, apparently

[@DarthScosha]

Clearly has never heard of a laptop.

[@dommidavros2211]

"Dvd video to hardrive software" - Does this guy actually believe it's still the 90's?

[@DarthQuietus]

"Why did we take so long?" Hahahah love Duncan

[@volundrfrey896]

For those who struggle remembering what other computers looked like at the time, google iMac G5 and you see what stylish computers he was up against looked like in 2005.

[@BenT2288]

Hearing John and Duncan try and pronounce revolutionary made this whole episode 😂😂

[@outdoorsy01]

Pitching a 80's product in the early 2000's 🤣🤣

[@wmk500]

I love these old tech ones - more please!!!

[@iranicus3393]

Looks like something I'd find at my grandparents house from the 80s

[@laurasweightlossjourney]

The wood paneling on the side is just the chef’s kiss on this whole thing

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

"I'd like you to imagine that despite incredible advances in the technology that goes inside the products, the biggest innovation in the last twenty years in the way the product looks has been to paint the boxes a different colour." That... isn't true. By a long shot. This Dragon's Den episode aired in 2005. Seven years earlier, in 1998, Apple released the colourful, round and inviting iMac G3, which was an instant success. Shortly after, Apple released the complementary iBook and Power Mac G3, which also had curved edges and bright translucent plastic in their designs. The iMac G4, released in 2002, still looks stunning today, with its half-dome base and bright, crisp screen on an extremely flexible neck. Either Dr Garside had an extremely sheltered view on computer design, or he was lying.