Re: Happy Birthday !

Bill,

Where as I can relate to that...  We had a LUG meeting and happened to
have a "recruitement seminar / job shop " going on next door...  Had
several people wonder over and ask what/who we were.  When our sect. said
we were a AS/400 LUG, the standard reply we got was "that's dead
technology"....this was 3 months ago...

RANTMOD(*ON)

BUT, one has to ask...why?  We're talking a very evolving technology and
the box (albeit with much kicking and screaming to add much needed
goodies) which is damn near the most stable hardware and o/s out there...
So, why is the general populace STILL thinking we're hammering on tables
of stone?  IT'S THE MARKETING STUPID.....  I'm reminded of what Dogbert
would refer to as "inDUHviduals...."

How long has the VW Beattle been around?  Has Disney changed that much?
(NO, that's why I don't go every decade)...isn't there a list somewhere of
things that have been around a helluva lot longer than 10 years (besides
me and a few other fossils around this list:) that have not only survived
the TEST OF TIME but have actually improved in both market share and
product offering?  ( I would add support to that, but I've yet to figure
out the TRUE end results of the new "subscription services..." stuff)

Face it, the trend and paradyms are a bit scary and nebulous....  FACT:
IBM's lost the desktop;  FACT:  IBM's lost the server arena (they should
have bought Netware back years ago!); Evolving fact: software for the 400
is more and more being farmed out to 3rd/4th parties(aka, "business
partners/VAR/VAD/IR...name dujour") some of which can't do a proper config
of a 400 to save their collective butts!  And IBM still refuses to
properly police their VARs for technical quality...and the perception of
IBM by the populace is based on the VAR...NOT the good folks in
Roch/Toronto/Welsley/Boulder/Almaden...etc...  Attempting to use
"certification" to ameliate this isn't going to work...this market just
doen't put that much stock in certs.   FACT:  When you call your
local IBM'er you v.likely to hear "you're not a big enough account, go
call a VAR..." as your reply.  I don't know you folks but this doesn't
give me warm fuzzies at nite!

SO, why am I concerned? Frankly, I'm concerned about a infrastucture
fragmentation...and what it could mean to my group and my clients...
IBM appears to be positioning themselves much more as market follower than
ever before.....and I REALLY don't like the idea of who they're
following...cuz by the time I hear of Windows/400 I hope like heck I'm
sitting on a beach burning out blenders and getting some major league eye
strain...:)

...but that's just my opinion...I could be wrong...:)

RANTMOD(*OFF)

Don in DC metro...



> Heard a presentation from an AS/400 executive a couple of weeks ago and she
> emphasized the fact that IBM was intentionally not going to publisize the
> 10th anniversary of the AS/400 ... she said that this strategy was because
> IBM didn't want to give the impression that the AS/400 was OLD ... she
> thanked us all for being such loyal customers and wished us a quiet "Happy
> Birthday" ...  
> 
> 
> At 03:03 PM 6/22/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >Happy Birthday to you,
> >Happy Birthday to you,
> >Happy Birthday dear dinosaur ...
> >
> >
> >Could it be that that is IBM's true opinion of the AS/400 ?
> >
> >Well, here it is, one day past the 10th anniversary of the AS/400
> >announcement, half a million systems shipped,  and where are the
> >marching bands, the TV ads, the billboards, the big AS/400 hot air
> >balloons floating across the countryside, the 400 homing pigeons
> >released from Times Square, the ANYTHING from IBM ?????
> >
> >There's not even a bloody birthday cake with 10 candles at
> >http://as400.rochester.ibm.com/
> >just a cop looking for id ferchirssakes !  (Well, maybe he's asking the
> >AS/400 for id because it's ONLY 10 years old ?).
> >Try the "What's New" link - nothing.
> >Try the "News and Events" link - nothing.
> >Try the "Recent news items about AS/400" or "AS/400 Press Releases"
> >links
> >- NOTHING, BUGGER ALL, NOT A SAUSAGE !
> >
> >Anyone would think IBM was ASHAMED of the AS/400 and AFRAID to make any
> >noise about the fact it's 10 years old.
> >
> >Now admittedly I haven't checked today's New York Times, Wall Street
> >Journal or USA Today.  Maybe there's a two line announcement in the
> >classifieds ?
> >
> >Has anyone seen ANYTHING ?
> >Is anyone else as pi**ed off about this as I am ?
> >Maybe I should just take my medication and take the rest of the day off
> >?
> >
> >Everybody put on your mouse ears and sing, 
> >R-O-C
> >H-E-S
> >T-E-R-M-N
> >
> >Oops - gotta run - the guys in the white jackets are coming down the
> >hallway....    :-o
> >
> >Neil Palmer                                AS/400~~~~~      
> >NxTrend Technology - Canada   ____________          ___  ~     
> >Thornhill, Ontario,  Canada   |OOOOOOOOOO| ________  o|__||=   
> >Phone: (905) 731-9000  x238   |__________|_|______|_|______)   
> >Cell.: (416) 565-1682  x238    oo      oo   oo  oo   OOOo=o\   
> >Fax:   (905) 731-9202       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
> >mailto:NPalmer@NxTrend.com    AS/400  The Ultimate Business Server      
> >http://www.NxTrend.com
> >
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> 
> bill gravelle
> 888.700.4921
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