If there were a sufficient money stream in the "ma and pas", IBM would

Mark,

If there were a sufficient money stream in the "ma and pas", IBM

would
be there.----> See System/34 and /36 <<

A TOTALLY different time, place and world.  Money went a lot further,
fuel was around $.30 per gallon, I got paid $190.00 per month and didn't
know what I was going to do with all that money.

At that time there were FEW IBM competitors for that space (no
Microsofts, no UNIX and the like).  IBM was the bull of the woods.  Now,
it is far from it.   And, because IBM was a, if not THE, bull of the
woods and the "ma and pas" had few places to go .  They pretty much HAD
to go to IBM; hence one reason for the BIG litigation in the '70s & '80s
of IBM.   IBM was FLUSH with cash, so much so I watched it spend $18M on
a warehouse for a project only to say, "Nah", we don't really want it
now and that sunk money was peanuts; and that's a small sample.   But
the end of the '80s things "CHANGED" at IBM.   And, by the way, the '34
and 36 were on their way out of their selling books  of business.   

But now, most of the above is no longer true.   Since the "ma and pas"
only want to spend small sums for their company's computers and support
personnel and services, they are a candidate for Microsoft with their
consumer commodity products, NOT a professional computing system and
environment like you get from IBM.   "Ma and Pas' wouldn't even CONSIDER
something like a '34 or '36 today; its WAY TOO complicated and requires
real programmers and IT professionals.   They want something that a
"user" can manager and run.   Enter Microsoft.    And IBM is pulling out
of all markets that cost a lot to build products for or service those
products and the like.   IBM is not a consumer products company and "Mas
and Pas" are consumer businesses now days.   When they grow up and go
through the first of those "business plateaus" that all businesses go
through and get to a point where they need serious computing power, with
more than "office" applications,  THEN IBM can make some money on them.

Later,

Dave