RE: IBM overhauls iSeries for the long haul

Steve,

That book sounds interesting (I just hit Amazon). I personally know 2
(multi) millionaire's and they don't fit that car scenario. One, two years
ago got rid of his 5 year old Porsche Turbo Carr era and got a brand new
Lamborghini Diablo :-) The other leases BMW's and Mercedes and also changes
every couple of years. And then there is me, at the moment I'm driving a
1987 Mazda 323 with 167,000 miles on it. Hmmm, better check my net worth
<VBG>...

Chuck

Steve wrote:

Rob-
It's interesting that you make that point...

Why?  Because M$ has introduced few features in any version
of MS Word beyond version 1.0 that I find the occasion to use,
and I tire of ponying up $$$ every time they come out with
the "latest and greatest" version with all of the bloatware features
that I know that I'll never use.

And you know what?  I still miss WordPerfect 5.0 - The "reveal codes"
feature was nice.  You could actually SEE the control codes for your
document formatting, if you desired.

I don't guess you have ever read "The Millionaire Next Door", have you?

Did you know that the average millionaire drives a 10-year old car?
If he does, why would he expect his companies' information systems,
if based on iSeries - AS/400 to be gutted and replaced every 2-5 years
just because IBM comes out with new hardware and operating system
upgrades that obsolete previously working software?

Or worse yet, impose an "interactive tax" on these same companies
just, IMO, to squeeze more money out of them or force them to upgrade/
rewrite their software using Java and Websphere?

One reason -
IBM is now a service-based company!  They derive a majority of their
revenue from services, NOT hardware sales.

In the past, IBM's philosophy was "we will preserve your investment
in your software".  I heard this mantra over and over in the 80's and 90's,
every time IBM came out with a new release or hardware upgrade.

It should now be revised to say:
 "We will protect your investment in your software as long as you
are willing to pay us big bucks to stay current with your hardware/OS
and pay us an interactive tax to keep your old green-screen
applications working".

Just thinking about us little guys,

Steve Landess
Austin, Texas
(512) 423-0935