Note that my headline isn't meaning to imply that the computing giant sold out their customers or anything like that.  In this case the computing giant is selling themselves and losing their independence by letting themselves be bought out by an investment firm.

At one point in time computer geeks/gurus/nerds would tell you that 3Com was a god in the networking market.  They pioneered and basically invented Ethernet networking.  They created the network interface cards that were in use in the vast majority of computer servers and workstations, and were heavily involved in pretty much every network that existed somewhere along the line.

Their glory days have passed long ago though, falling victim to market whims in much the same manner as did Lotus (which sold out to IBM), as did Word Perfect (sold out to Novell who continues to have a barely recognizable presence in the market) as did many other companies along the way.  There were consolidations and buyouts and mergers that had one company after another becoming a subsidiary of another company which became a sub of another.  And then there was the tech market crash that ended several companies lives in the market place.  The parts that had been independent and then became part of MCI Worldcom were sold off or lost completely when Worldcom went from giant to basically nothing.

Few of those original giants still exist. 3Com was one.  Microsoft is one.  IBM is one.  Very few others that might be considered an original are up there.

Anyway, 3Com will continue to exist, but as noted they may lose independence via this deal.  Such is life in the computing world though where it's all about what have you done lately, not what had you done for me in the past.

News link: Bain Capital Partners to Buy Out 3Com