FUD
/fuhd/ An acronym invented by {Gene Amdahl}
after he left {IBM} to found his own company: "FUD is the
fear, uncertainty, and doubt that {IBM} sales people instill
in the minds of potential customers who might be considering
[Amdahl] products." The idea, of course, was to persuade them
to go with safe IBM gear rather than with competitors'
equipment. This implicit coercion was traditionally
accomplished by promising that Good Things would happen to
people who stuck with IBM, but Dark Shadows loomed over the
future of competitors' equipment or software.
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-05-23)