RE: Introduction...

That's a very cool flash page.  Nice job.

Now, i just want to mention a couple of things.  Don't take these as
negative to your design or abilities, please.

While this page is very nice, flashy and loads fast, what does it do for my
business?  When I go to an iSeries Nation pages, I want to see a page that
uses technology in a way that I would use it to help my business.  I want to
see examples of other iNation member who have used Java, Net.Data, RPG and
COBOL for their business, web and otherise.    

Flash is just that, a flash in the pan.  You see it once, and it's neat.
You see it again and it's "oh ya, that's cool."  You see it for the third
time and its "where's the 'skip intro' button?"  (Again, don't take this
personal...)

Flash is flashy, yes, but too often this type of page is related with a
technology that will get work done.  And it really doesn't really do
anything but please the eye.  My customers want to see live data.  That will
make them more happy in the long run.  Sure, a snickers will satisfy if
you're hungry, but you'd really rather have a turkey commercial and mashed
potatoes.  :)

My favorite IBM blunder is the JKLToys site.  They were gonna show us how
it's done!  I was excited.  They never got past the static page of the site,
and even that was pretty poor, IMHO.  So I don't have much faith in iNation
either.  

I'm sick of hearing IBM cry wolf about these miraculous projects that have
already been done by others.  I'm also sick of us as a community expecting
because IBM does something it will be better than what's already out there
(a GREAT example is baron's page.. it's way better than what IBM did and
probably took half the time).  

If we supported each other more, we'd get more done.  If more people would
contribute, we would have more support.  If we took ideas from the Linux
community and shared our feelings and thoughts openly, we wouldn't have to
ask "where's the FAQ?" or "is there a FAQ?"  If we weren't afraid of saying
something wrong, more people would learn.  You learn from your mistakes, and
you also learn from other's mistakes.

In other words, the outcome will be better for all of us if we become
self-sufficient as an iSeries Nation, rather than waiting for IBM to put it
together for us.  We're not lemmings, I hope.

BTW, I want my freakin duffle bag.  ;)  

Brad

+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---