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Looking back at the history of high technology, there are countless examples of hyper-growth companies that eventually faded into nothingness. Examples include WordPerfect, Wang, DEC and on and on.
Yes, it's life in the tech fast lane.
And, this week we got some more road kill: Silicon Graphics (SGI) sold out to Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) for a measly $25 million.
Founded in 1982, SGI quickly found its growth groove. Then again, the company's mastermind was James Clark (who eventually went on to create companies like Netscape).
SGI was truly an innovator, developing super-advanced workstations that produced 3-D images. No doubt, this was helpful for engineers -- and even Hollywood producers. In fact, SGI helped bring the Terminator and Jurassic Park to life. As a testament to its technological prowess, the company's market cap got to about $7 billion in the mid 1990s.
Yet, as is often the case, SGI essentially became a dinosaur and tried to live off a shrinking customer base. Interestingly enough, the firm fell into bankruptcy about two years ago.
Lessons here? Well, SGI made some horrible acquisitions, such as its deal for Cray. There was also the problem of sticking to proprietary systems, which is a tough strategy to pursue for the long haul.
The irony is that the old headquarters is now occupied by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).
In other words, change is definitely a good thing -- and necessary for high technology.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and the founder of BizEquity, a free online business valuation tool for small businesses. 
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