Network Computing Devices Inc (NCD), the company probably best known these days as being the manufacturer of IBM Corp’s network computers, has lost the full-time help of its founder and chief technology officer, Doug Klein, although he has joined the company’s board where he will continue in an advisory and consultancy role. NCD’s executive VP operation and finance Rudy Morin says Klein – who only told the board on Friday – will work one or two days a week for at least the first half of 1998, but from next quarter Klein will also be working at a start-up company developing a specialized personal digital assistant (PDA). The company, of which there are no details at the moment, was started by ex-NCD people who lured Klein away. Morin said the company does not intend to replace Klein any time soon as it had appointed a head of engineering, John Gilbert, to report to chief executive Bob Gilbertson about three months ago, as Klein preferred the technical guru role to day-to-day management. Chatting on the Silicon Investor bulletin boards, Klein described the start-up as not really a PDA company, although it has that sort of twist… it is very private, relatively unfunded, and a very high risk proposal. But Klein said that it is only his continued confidence in the company he started that enables him to take such a risk.
Content from our partners
