RE: Lower End AS/400s

Just to be clear, folks (and Justin in particular):

I'm not blaming anybody for problems with the AS/400 market; IBM did that
quite well all by itself.

But I am suggesting that it's in each of our best interests to quit blaming
"IBM marketing", "IT management", and "reality" for the lack of interest in
the box.  While each of these certainly plays a part, we don't have a ton of
control over those.  What we do have control over is what we say, and to
whom.

So get your story straight: is the AS/400 (or iSeries, if you must) the best
platform for business applications planet or not?  If you don't think it is,
tell us why or maybe find a new platform.  If it is, though, make it a habit
of knowing all its strengths.  Be able to quote reliability figures or talk
about how programs from the 80's still run.  Rhapsodize on native I/O, and
how much faster it is than other platforms.  Sing the praises of
integration, such as the fact that OUR JVM can easily be called by other
high level languages (try THAT on some other OS).

And once you have that story straight, tell whoever you can!  When the
subject comes up at lunch, don't let anyone get away with Windows/iSeries
comparisons.  Don't allow Unix/SQL to be mentioned as a capable replacement
for native I/O.  Make sure people understand that it takes a total of ONE
operator for pretty much as many AS/400's as you can stick in a room.

And then tell more people!  Tell your boss!  Tell your clients!  Post on
newsgroups!  Send emails!

Whatever you do, DON'T take it easy!

And now I'll shut up.  Off to Phoenix for a four-generation holiday
get-together.  See y'all when I return.

Joe