This one's for my buddy, Epee Bill...

"Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." That phrase was the bane of clone-makers in the mid-80s. Companies would willingly pay five times as much for an IBM, just because no one wanted to take the fall for problems with a lesser system.

And no, that didn't mean that IBMs didn't have their flaws. It simply meant that if you bought IBM, no one would claim you cut corners and caused the mess. It was the safe choice.

Eventually, companies got more comfortable with compatibles; and eventually, IBM lowered their prices to compete. They're still pricey, but they're also still good machines (particularly the new Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet PC).

The funny thing is, I never actually heard of anyone who was fired for not buying an IBM. I'm sure it might've happened; but the phenomenon was really all about corporate folks unwilling to take a chance.

But apparently, someone just got fired for buying an Apple (link requires free registration):

After a divisive public debate, a lawsuit brought by a former county commissioner stopped the program last month, not on its merits but on the plan to fund it with proceeds from a special sales tax approved by county voters in 2003. On Aug. 14, school board members received a stinging report from a corporate investigator alleging bias and deception in the bidding process for the contract, which had been won by Apple Computer.

School board members voted immediately to terminate the contract with Apple. Three of the seven members called for Redden's dismissal. The other four said they still had questions both about the bidding process and about how the investigative firm, Kessler International, put together its report.