The Day After - Inventing the PC - page 142

of IBM prominence and I had already experienced the lack
of understanding that senior people had for how to act in the
market,” commented Robinson. “Having a better mousetrap
did not mean that your product would sell like hotcakes. Ted
[Berg] thought we had a better mousetrap and people would
buy them by the gross.”
According to Robinson, Berg's micro-managerial style, com-
bined with his frequent absences from MCM , was another prob-
lem. “Ted was a nice chap and good-natured, but he just was
not a company builder, nor a computer salesman, nor a people-
handler. I had to practically pass everything by him before I did
anything!” One event that stuck vividly in Robinson's memory
concerned a Chinese company that Robinson attracted to the
MCM /700 computer.
I wrote them a letter and Ted had this routine where he
read every letter before it went out. He stopped mine and
practically rewrote it. I was looking for another job as I
was not enjoying it at MCM so I let fly at him. I said, how
could he possibly write a letter in English to a Chinese
chap better than someone who had been educated at one
of England's finest public schools and University and had
worked with the Chinese for five years.
On 1 March 1977 Berg stepped down as president of MCM ,
making room for Charles (Chuck) M. Williams, who, before
joining MCM , was president and general manager of Hewlett-
Packard (Canada) Ltd. Berg remained as an MCM director until
8 June 1978. When MCM closed its wholly owned United States
subsidiary set up by Berg in his hometown of Nanuet, New
York, he became the president of the newly created Interactive
Computer Systems Inc., a dedicated MCM distributor in the
eastern United States.