Re: Is the AS/400 a dying Ember -- MIDRANGE-L

I don't think the AS/400 is the dying ember (although I do get this picture
in my head of IBM Management/Marketing standing around the campfire, ......
trying to put out the fire). Much of the comparisons lately have been about
"niche" serving, ie web serving, etc. The 400, I think, still wins the
Enterprise Serving category, but that doesn't make headlines. The headlines
lately are web serving, database serving, etc. The AS/400 is not about
single users, or departmental specialty serving (other than the Domino
Bumble Bee). It's about the the whole corporation. If something else is a
better web server (and I certainly don't think it's Windoze-will somebody
please re-boot me), than IBM better bring the 400 up to speed, or make a
REAL CLEAR statement of the best way to web serve in an AS/400 environment
(not like the 400 Firewall statement-did they ever really say anything??)
IBM has been INCREDIBLY slow at keeping the technology up to date. There
should NOT be a single update to WebSphere, MqSeries, DB2, etc, etc that is
not available AT THE SAME TIME to the AS/400, documented, tested &
supported. Where is the problem between Rochester & the rest of IBM? Even
with all the apparent problems, I don't think the 400 is dying. The trade
press will always be dominated by PC & Windows. The AS/400 is the boring box
that runs corporations. NT is there (10 NT's to do Word Processing, e-mail,
DHCP, etc. One AS/400 running the business!) From this, the trade press
announces that NT is taking over. Go figure. The AS/400 won't disappear for
the same reason mainframes are not disappearing. They are running the main
business applications.
Jim Franz
----- Original Message -----
From: <Dave_Dahlstrom@triangle-group.com>
To: <MiDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 2:57 PM
Subject: Is the AS/400 a dying Ember


> I firstly apologise to anyone who does not understand the underlying
question
> that I hope to raise here.  This may not be the arena to air these
comments, but
> what the hell, you never know is might spark the fire into life.
>
> I feel the need to talk, to talk about the future of the AS/400 from a
> commercially viable viewpoint.  I feel that I may be guilty of engulfing
myself
> in the technological flames of a platform that from a commercial
standpoint
> seems to no longer warrant the attention of my future or even that of the
> Solution providers.  Market Share, Market Share, Market Share, why don't
these
> people do for the good of mankind what they do for 'Market Share' Oh
please I
> feel torn between the knowing smile of stability and common sense against
that
> of a Nike advert.   The very nature of the human being is to go with the
flow,
> go with what you know, survive and earn enough to live the life you only
dream
> about,  but that's it, its a dream, its the dimension that we think we
wish to
> obtain but mean while we lose sight of the real goal.  That goal is what?
I
> don't know.  A perplexing question that warrants your comments.
>
> OS/2 springs to mind,  a lovely 32bit operating system that seemed to
again
> unleash my technological underpinnings, wrong! Microsoft is the way to go,
as I
> have this on my PC at home and I can run my own business on it and its
cheap. I
> say 'its your Business and lets keep it that way'.   Betamax another
> technological breakthrough that would revolutionise the world but once
again
> market demand deemed otherwise,  was it because it was technologically
inept?  I
> doubt it,  Was it because it was a different shape? quite possibly.
>
>  Is the AS/400 in danger of falling by the wayside like the for-mentioned,
I
> wonder if IBM had anything to do with Betamax.
>
> your comments would be greatly appreciated as my future is in the balance
due to
> conformity.
>
> Am I trying to keep a dying Ember alive? I am trying to a unlock a dream
that is
> just that 'a Dream'.
>
>
>
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