I've known more than a few IBMers over the years associated with IBM Almaden and other places. Many of those on contract/part time/etc, kept their heads down. Many full timers, the same thing.<p>Cringley may or may not be right on the magnitude of the numbers, but the one thing he is right about is IBM is purely governed by pleasing Wall Street above all else.<p>The IBM that existed when I was growing up and seeded more than a couple of the early founding staff of the UC Santa Cruz Computer Engineering staff (Patrick Mantey and Glen Langdon -- my advisor to name two), is <i>WAY</i> different than the IBM of today.<p>IBM is a shadow of itself, there are still interesting groups, but even the research arms are being hit hard by genuflecting to wall street.