Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Starting in the late 1950s and lasting for several decades, the most common form of computing was based on mainframe computers. The first major blow to the dominance of mainframes came from the broad deployment of mini computers and the second major blow came from the even broader development of personal computers. While mainframe computers never went away, they languished for years in relative obscurity. However, as will be explained in the next few newsletters, there is evidence to suggest that we are entering a new era of mainframe computing.
While it is common to associate mainframe computers with IBM, the reality is that several manufacturers produced mainframe computers from the late 1950s through the 1970s. The group of manufacturers was often referred to as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". In that context, Snow White was IBM and the seven dwarfs were Burroughs, UNIVAC, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, General Electric and RCA. IBM will likely be a major player in the emerging generation of mainframe computing. However, this time its competition will come from giant competitors, not dwarfs.
moar: https://www.networkworld.com/article/2212166/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs.html