Earlier quoted context omitted.
IBM has been a dead company since about late 80's/early 90's.
In terms of developer credibility with the entrepreneurial community? Sure. In terms of being a going concern for large customers and investors? The make billions of dollars of profit per year, have a P/E valuation better than Apple's, and pay out 4-5% dividends annually. I'm not sure what it really means to "be dead" for 40 years. In a sense, the average human is "dead" for 70-something years. But periods of time at…
IBMs stock price was $100 in the 2000s. It's only $133 now. If it adjusted for inflation - that would be $173 today. You lost about 25% in real depreciation to get about ~3% per year yield in dividends (taxed as income $$$).
You can do better with Treasuries.
So why take the risk on Big Blue?
Not uncommon for someone to describe a company like this as "dead" - even if it is, presumably, providing some economic value.