Conference 7.286::digital

  I don't think that there's any official color.  However, I've also
  heard that we're using blue again, so maybe the unofficial "official"
  color is back to blue.

  On the other hand, the binders coming out of SDC are still the ugly
  "Chinese red" which is neither.

--Simon

Weren't there some really "electric blue" electric lights on an evergreen
outside of the Mill this Christmas?  I seem to recall remarking on this as
we drove past on New Year's Eve.
				/AHM

re:-.1
Have you ever seen grey bulbs?
/tb/

The official color does exist.  Guidelines are created for stationery, business
cards, advertising, and so on.  It's my understanding that this occupies of
great deal of time of the operating committees.  If your job includes
preparation of materials (in color) to be distributed to the public, you ought
to know what color Digital is supposed to be.

Pat Sweeney

re [.4]
Well ? Blue or grey ?

/Jeff

Re .3:

I can believe they are grey during the day.

The clock faces were red and green, but probably white during the day.
				/AHM

Well... The story I heard a couple of days ago, was...

	Digital's registered trademark is blue blocked letters, not
gray, so we're back to blue... Fine by me, I've still got a couple
hundred blue business cards left, anyway...

-Bob B.

Sorry,no trademark is specific as to color..  That can't be an explanation.

Pat Sweeney

Ahh Gi'day...

    The last  I  heard from P&CS was hold your horses, it's no longer grey,
    and they were in limbo. Grey looked quite a bit better, especially with
    the Cerise. I don't know why the change back occurred, but the rumour I
    heard was that the reason we changed was the inevitable Big Blue versus
    Little Blue debate.

    If that's true then changing to grey was worse, because that brought up
    the comparisons of the Blue versus the Grey. The Grey lost.

			{dennis{{{ -- Green and Gold.

Well, I hope I can still get a few of those neat looking grey binders
anyway....

tim

Are you all color blind?!!

Can't you see that is not grey?!!

That's Champagne Beige!!!!

	:-) Mike (-:

     At Spit Brook Road, the putative flagship of the corporate engineering
     fleet, the flagpole now flies a gray flag with digital printed in
     white.  The status of the erstwhile gonfalon, with its blue letters on
     a white field, is unknown. 
     
     --Don 

              Gee, I though the Mill was the flagship.

                    At least we've got a pond !

                          -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                           :-) Atlant (-:

How you doing, Atlant?

Speaking of the pond, is building 3 still sinking?  We almost have a pond
at ZK.  Actually, it's at the Sheraton Tara.  Close enough, and it doesn't 
affect our building!
       

							John

I thought it was building 21 that was sinking into the Mill pond.

--PSW

     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---
          -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-    
   _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---
        -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-    
 _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---_     _---
      -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-     -___-    
                O   o         O   o       o
              +-o----o----O------o-----O-----o---+
             /   o     O          O        o    /|
            /  o     O      o   O      o    O  / |
           +----------------------------------+  |
           | "No, building 3 isn't sinking    |  |
           |   anymore, but we have noticed   |  |
\          |   that it's gotten a might damp  |  /          /
 \         |   down here."                    | /          /
  \________|__________________________________|/__________/

                                   Atlant

Yeah, but I still want to know ....

... is it Chinese orange, Yankee Blue, or Confederate Grey?

-Steve

    What ever it is, you can be sure of the fact that it'll change soon.

              <<< HUMAN::ARKD$:[NOTES$LIBRARY]MARKETING.NOTE;1 >>>
                             -< Marketing Issues >-
================================================================================
Note 115.0      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!         7 replies
HUMAN::DTL                                           16 lines  27-FEB-1986 05:18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I am attending a European Security seminar in Reading, and the guest
    speaker is Ray Humphrey
    
    I asked him about the "color" story, and here is what he explained
    (I don't tell you w about writing within VAX Notes in SET HOST from
    Reading...) :-(
    
    A few months ago, Jack Shields went to see ken Olsen and told him
    that this grey color was SAD! Ken's reply has been something like:
    "please, do what you wish with the color issue"
    This is why you will see again blue business cards aroiund,
    particularily in Sales and Marketing.
    
    (Ray is the director of Corporate Security)
    
    Didier
================================================================================
Note 115.1      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            1 of 7
JOEL::BERMAN                                          8 lines  27-FEB-1986 12:01
                      -< What I think I heard about this >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At the last State of the Company Meeting Ken was asked what the
    official color was. I think he said something like.
    
    We don't have an official color. Use what you like but, please don't
    throw away lots of old forms, cards, etc. because they are the
    "wrong" color.
    
    /joel
================================================================================
Note 115.2      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            2 of 7
TLE::WINALSKI "Paul S. Winalski"                      5 lines  27-FEB-1986 16:32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It says something about the state of the Company that such a trivial issue
gets raised at the State of the Company Meeting.  Doesn't our top management
have anything better to do with its time?

--PSW
================================================================================
Note 115.3      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            3 of 7
NY1MM::SWEENEY "Pat Sweeney"                         11 lines  28-FEB-1986 23:44
                            -< Little things count >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Actually, the logo of the company is probably the most important
    marketing symbol of the company and, hence, a valid concern of top
    management.
    
    A clear and stable logo tells something of the consistency of the
    company.  A company that can't decide whether its stationary should
    be blue or grey probably can't efficiently decide if its computers
    ought to be 16, 32, or 36 bits.
    
    Little things which are obvious are telling signs of quality.  I
    we can't manage little things then we can't manage the big things.
================================================================================
Note 115.4      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            4 of 7
TLE::LIONEL "Steve Lionel"                            4 lines   3-MAR-1986 13:51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Regardless of grey or blue, the corporate logo in our ads has been
    BLACK with remarkable consistency, and on our products, it's been
    grey for years.
    				Steve
================================================================================
Note 115.5      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            5 of 7
NETWRK::SMITH                                        10 lines   4-APR-1986 14:13
                      -< Black was DEC's original color >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         I'm quite certain that Black was DEC's original Corporate color
      and most 'old time' DECies (10+ years of service) can remember
      that DEC employee badges were Black, and it was definitely a
      source of Corporate pride to wear a Black badge. Why? Because
      it was an easy way to let folks know that you weren't a 'new hire',
      you'd been employeed at DEC almost since its' Corporate birth.
    
    						regards,
    							Bob
    
================================================================================
Note 115.6      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            6 of 7
MODULE::PHIPPS "Mike Phipps"                         14 lines   4-APR-1986 17:14
                           -< What's in a Color... >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first badge was blue 12 years ago but in my opinion, the badges were black
because they were easy to make (cheap too). I don't think it matters a whole
lot what the color is/was.

Just to stick in my 2-cents; the DEC Block logic modules were light beige
(some might say cream colored) with dark brown lettering. The handles of some
later plug in modules were of clear plastic with color coded stripes to
indicate what function was performed; their sides were kind of dark blue...
ahhh :-) 

We used some of these things at Lincoln Lab and Mitre (a few) years ago. But 
isn't that where....

	Mike
================================================================================
Note 115.7      The truth on the Corporate color back to blue!            7 of 7
SAHQ::MILBERG                                        26 lines   7-APR-1986 14:19
                        -< Another 'color' heard from >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I've got one of those block module on my bookcase!  The interesting
    thing is that the logo on both sides is:
    
    		 -
		|d|
		|e|
    		|c|
    		 -
    
    where the box is solid BROWN and the letters are lighter (tan
    case color showing thru, except for the top of the 'd' that extends
    above the box and is dark brown.  The 'front panel' is also brown,
    the color of the raw phenolic (ancient pc board material).
    
    Legend has it that the aluminum case was surplus waveguide bought
    cheap from Raytheon.
    
    I bought a bunch of these in a surplus store in Orlando a couple
    of years ago and gave them out as momentos.
    
    I also have one of the learning labs where the modules were just
    boards that plugged in the back and you put a paper strip in the
    front to show what it was.  That panel is in blue.
    
    	- Barry -
    

    I'm sure if you asked Peter Philips@CFO what the color(s) is/are,
    he could enlighten you.  Last time I was over in Corporate Marketing
    Services, where the standardization was to be coordinated and
    implemented, the color was NOT Grey, it was PLATINUM...Looked like
    *d*i*g*i*t*a*l* chiselled into a platinum ingot in last year's
    Corporate Advertising Campaign [which did get pulled before
    completion].
    
    Ruth
                         

    I heard a story about the Mill.  It seems that before DEC moved
    in it was a wollen mill, and made blankets.  During the war it
    made reversible blankets: blue on one side and grey on the other.
    Maybe that's the source of DEC's confusion over the corporate
    color.
    
    (That's the Civil War, of course)
        John Sauter

    
    	"Old Badges" were black ?   Must have been before my time.  

    In May '68 they had a little blue border, though the name and (4 digit)
    number were in black.
    
    	Reg
     

    after the original blue border badges (very small badges), there
    was a very short period of time when the badges were made the same
    size as they are now, but with black graphics.  Most of those
    were "recalled" after a very short use.

Some of us never heard about the recall -- or weren't listening.

Black badges were issued in Maynard in mid-late 1972.  Apparently,
they ran out (hiring freeze had just ended) and they made up new
stock in-house.

Martin.

re: 72.25

>Black badges were issued in Maynard in mid-late 1972.

I started in Central Engineering at ML12-2 in January, 1973.  My badge was 
black.  A friend of mine started three months earlier -- his badge was one 
of the small blue-bordered ones.  We were hiring like crazy then  -- his 
badge number was in the 12000's, mine is in the 18000's (this was before 
the practice of allocating blocks of numbers) -- 6 thousand people in three 
months!

>Some of us never heard about the recall -- or weren't listening.

Do you mean to say I have to give my black badge back?  8^)

Rumor had it that the Security department in the Mill had a small stock of 
the small blue-bordered badges to handle replacement badges for senior 
folks who never liked the new-fangled big badges.

Ray_who_thinks_the_new_badges_lack_character

    re .27	'72 was NOT before the practice of preallocating blocks
    large blocks of numbers.  In '67, and probably before, European
    employees were given badge numbers in sequence with U.S. employees,
    by '68 this had changed and the 5,000 series had been sent over.
    I have heard it said that the reason for the block starting at 5,000
    was the assumption that U.S. badge numbers would never go that high,
    I think U.S. badge nubers were up around 3,500 then.
    
    	Reg	(May '68, Arkwright Road, Reading, England)
    			(about 20 of us total at that time)
    

    I agree that blocks of badge number were preallocated back in '68
    for DEC Europe use as .28 says, BUT the block of badge numbers was
    could not have been the 5000 series. Not certain which block it was.

			Regards,
			   George: July '68 / badge 5566

    I think the 6000 series were European, as were the 13, 23, 36, 45,
    54?, 63?, 69, 75, 79, 91 ...

    What is the apostrophe (') that appears in the middle of some badge
    numbers?  I always assumed that it was put in European badges to
    make their numbers unique without having to keep separate bundles
    of numbers.  I guess that would not work too well if a European
    employee transferred over here and wanted to use the dial-up DCU
    or stock phone thingie.
    
    Burns

    I noticed this amongst a significant number (all?) of the badges
    in Europe while I was there last summer.  It was explained to me
    (perhaps in gest?) that it's really a comma, as what would normally
    separate thousands from hundreds.
    
    For example, if the badge number were 12345 it would be displayed
    on the European badge as 12'345.
    
    Jon

    In (most of) Europe we use a comma where you use a decimal point
    and a period as digit separator.
    My first badge displayed 23.180 which was considered funny by most
    Americans who noticed that.
    

    re .32 and .33:
    
    I understand . and , but ' is not either one!  Does anyone know
    why the translation took place?
    
    B
    

I heard the other day that we were going back to blue because our 
customers thought our business cards looked real cheap.

To make a long story short, I just got new business cards and they're 
blue!  Only real difference in format is that my name is done in smaller
letters, other than that, they look just like the old ones.

-mark

    A batch of cards were ordered for employees at the Customer Support
    Center in Colorado Springs when we moved to our new facility in
    January of 1987.  The first batch were blue.  The order for the 
    next batch was put on hold for awhile.  The reason I heard was that
    Europe didn't like the blue and wanted the gray.  The issue was
    supposed to be settled in Ken Olsen's office.  When the second
    batch finally arrived, they were gray.  Our library has lots of
    the gray binders.  I asked and was told that they could be ordered
    from office services (whatever that is).

    Mike

    We were using blue. Then we switched to that ugly grey, at the
    same time changing the style of our letterhead (although
    half the company never seemed to realize the formatting
    change)
    then last year they switched us back to the blue, but if you
    compare the old blue to the new, in the letterhead and the
    stationary, you'll see that there is a difference between the
    old blue and the new blue.
    After 7 years blue seems like DEC's color...that grey just
    couldn't cut it!
    

    Well, there are indications that the new corporate color is (will
    be) gray.  This includes changing the manual binders from that orange
    "Chinese Red" to whatever-the-name-is gray.  The orange wall outside
    the ZK1 entrance has been repainted gray, and the change seems permanent.
    
  --Simon
    

    Re .38:
    
    Point of clarification....
    
    Is this Blue/Gray? As in the Civil War?
    
    Perhaps KO is trying to market us as being the Rebels in the computing
    field. (Or could it just be an allergic reaction to blue?)
    
    Boy, thinking about these unsolved mysteries of the universe is
    hard work.
    
    Jim (who thinks the blue looks better)
    

    Doesn't matter to me as long as they don't make us go back to those
    AWFUL cheap-looking business cards we had a year or so ago.  I was
    positively embarrassed to give them to a customer!
    
    							Pat

    RE: blue --- BACK to blue (manuals were blue, after they were white)
          another instance of the wheel of life...
    
    RE: ZK orange pipes, I thot that it was easier to remove the pipes
          than to go to 8-bit ;^))
    
    /s/ Jim Williams

    Will they start calling us "Big Gray"?

    re: -.1
    
    That way, instead of having people unsure as to whether to call
    us DEC or DIGITAL, they will be unsure as to whether to call us
    Big Gray or Big Grey.

    re .41:  It was the wall that was orange, not the pipes.  The pipes
    were and are still black and white.  However...

                             -< The bars are back >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    but they don't spell "DigitalSoftwa""reengineering"
    anymore.  Now it's [are you ready for this?]:
    
    	"Customers Win"
    	"WhenWeDeliver"

    
    Sorry for the digression.
    
  --Simon
    

"Customers win when we deliver..." ?????

You are joking, right Simon????

		Nigel
		ex-ZKO'er

    I'm serious about what's on the wall.  Rumor has it that it was
    a serious message from a very senior person.
    
  --Simon
    

        Maybe we need a midnight session with some spray cans...  :-)
        
        q
        

    I saw maintenance people rearranging the bars today!
    
    Who had time to decipher the new message?
    
    Holly

    Simon Szeto did.
        John Sauter

    I know that Simon translated the original new message.
    
    But yesterday, Thursday 9-10-87, I saw a maintenance crew out there
    with screwdrivers seemingly rearranging the bars.   Someone sitting
    there with a notebook said the message was changing, but he hadn't
    figured it all out yet.
    
    Did the message change?
    
    Holly  

    When the message went up at the beginning of this week, I noticed
    several bars which weren't properly bolted down. I suspect they
    were just finishing the original job; changing the message would
    entail bringing in new bars (unless the new and old messages
    have precisely the same numbers of 1's and 0's) and a lot of
    messing around, probably taking a couple of days.
    
    However, I haven't tried decoding it as it stands, so I'll wait
    with bated keyboard...

    Actually, John Reagan figured out what the bars said before I did.
    He was here over the weekend; I only saw the bars Tuesday morning.
    Also, note 72.44 is essentially the same as another written earlier
    by Barbara Bazemore in another conference.
    
    When I came in this morning, the bars still said what they said
    all this week.
    
  --Simon
    

RE:  .-1

What do they say?  I don't have my jumbo bar code reader handy.

John

    But pray tell (for those of us not in the vicinity of ZKO) what are
    these aforementioned bars? 
    
    I assume they're not places which sell alcoholic beverages...  :-)

    -  David

    The so-called 'bars' are 3-4 meter lengths of angle iron (painted
    black) and tube steel (painted white) that are mounted vertically on
    one wall of the ZKO1 building leading into the main entrance. The wall
    is on the left as you enter. The bars are arranged in two tiers.  When
    the pattern they make is read from left to right and interpreted as
    binary code, they spell out the aforesaid text message. 

    The use of angle irons and pipes are for the amusement of the blind,
    I assume  ;^))
    
    Jim Williams

The bars are actually all tubular.  The appear to be made of aluminium with
some kind of coating.  The black ones are square tubes mounted so the faces
are 45 degress to the wall face.  The white ones are circular.  All the 
bars are about 1 1/2 inches across.  The black bars are the ones and the
white bars the zeros. 

When originally installed the wall was painted "chinese red" and they read
in 7-bit ASCII code: 

	digitalsoftwa
 	reengineering 

at the time some people got together and had some T-shirts printed with the 
bar code on the front and the letters on the back.

The wall has now been painted a shade of grey which is I think supposed to 
match the grey we use on business cards, etc.

As Simon has pointed out the letters were also rearranged although I did 
not notice that when I saw them last Friday (the first time in 3 years).

Jeremy Barker

    The color of the "great wall of ZK" is intended to match the
    current color of the software manual binders.  They used to be
    so-called Chinese Red, now they are grey, hence the wall change.
    Business cards are back to blue (though I still have my grey ones.)
    
    A petition has been started to change the message back to the
    original.
    				Steve

    
    Everybody seems to know the exact name of the "red", that is
    Chinese Red, I saw the announcent of this color in "Small Buffers"
    some years ago. 
    
    Do we have a defined corporate color ?
    How is it called ( certainly not just "grey") ??

    Why not All-in-one yellow next time ?

	It is "Champagne Grey"

    This has to be the ultimate in colour marketing techniques. What
    would you do if you poured yourself a glass of Champagne and discovered
    it was that colour? Personally, I would definitely not drink it;
    I would take it straight back to the state liquor store at exit
    6, bang on the counter, and demand an explanation. I suspect that
    I would also find the base of the cork to be a fine shade of Connemara
    green.
    
    Richard.

Actually, I believe the color was called Champagne Beige, not gray.

The person who gave it that name must have meant that it was the "champagne" 
of all beige tones. Sparking and with style. Not the color of any sparkling 
wine. :-)

        Mike

    I thought it was because they couldn't get the bubbles out of
    the paint.

    At DECWORLD87 the exhibit guide had the logo in blue and the annual
    report had it in gray/grey...or was it the other way around.

    Re: .62:
    
    Document Manufacturing Specifications that I have read refer the color
    as "Midrange Gray." 

    
    I've heard that the new color for Software Documentation covers
    and binders is called "Pussywillow Grey".  (Which just happens to be
    the color I recently painted my downstairs bathroom!)
    
    Don Montgomery
    Software Manufacturing Business Unit
    

    RE: 61
    
    When you go out for printing, you specify colors by using
    the Pantone Matching System (PMS).  If the grey everyone is 
    talking about is the same 'grey' we used on the letterhead
    package, then it is officially called PMS 403.
    
    
    Jodi-    
    

    Those ORANGE (or is it Chinese Red) binders are sure popular in
    Colorado these days.

          <<< HUMAN::DISK$HUMAN_WRKD:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DIGITAL.NOTE;1 >>>
                          -< The DEC way of working >-
================================================================================
Note XXX.0                        DEC Colors?                          2 replies
GEMVAX::BUEHLER                                      10 lines  22-MAR-1988 15:37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Does anyone know "officially" what colors Digital is planning to
    use?  They phased out the blue, and I had heard that the Chinese
    orange is passe also.  Have we adopted the grey/beige/taupe
    officially yet ?
    
    Any info is appreciated.
    
    Thanks,
    mdb
    
================================================================================
Note xxx.1                        DEC Colors?                             1 of 2
REGENT::MERRILL "Glyph it up!"                        5 lines  24-MAR-1988 08:38
                 -< Check the latest Corp.Image documents :-) >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I hear (through no particular authority) that the "champaigne grey"
    is out and that "digital blue" is back!  Let's hope so!
    
    RMM
    
================================================================================
Note xxx.2                        DEC Colors?                             2 of 2
NEWPRT::NEWELL "Recovering Perfectionist"            13 lines  24-MAR-1988 13:40
                        -< Company Identity Standards >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Contact the Judy Steul, Identity Program Administrator, for the name
    of the person in your area who received the grey Company Identity
    Manual.  Her DTN is 251-1490.  You'll find her in Concord, MA (CFO)
    
    Page 1.1 of this manual states that blue (PMS 307) logos are to
    be used on stationery items and business cards. Logos affixed to
    products are to be generally rendered in grey (PMS 402).  Other 
    colors may be used as appropriate to the application and media.

    
    Jodi-