Re: State of the Midrange

[nina jones <ddi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>  >> Can we really blame IBM if we won't step up to the plate and try out
> the new stuff they are offering??
> 
> Bless you Booth - I was beginning to feel I was the only one who felt that
> way.
> 
> For years I blamed IBM (yes even when I worked for them!) but for some time
> now I have been convinced that it the "good enough" mentality among
> customers that is the greatest threat to the platform. Sure IBM don't help,
> but in some ways we don't help even then.


i agree - to a point.

ibm does not go out of their way to make things easy or convienient. 
code 400 may be great, but it wasn't easy to figure out how to use it. 
in many p/c applications, there is a fast track, bare bones manual of
what you need to do to get the product going.  IBM products seem to be
lacking these features.   

in promoting new products, ibm should be telling us why we want to use
them, not why we have to.  as in the hamburger ad.    

and a lot of hot new products die on the vine.  you have to pick your
platforms very carefully.  like in the early 90's wasn't smalltalk going
to sweep the world?

you can go to the vo-tech and take p/c courses for cheap.  $100-$200 per
class.  we got a flyer for as/400 university, and it was $1000's of
dollars.  that's a major budget buster!  other as/400 courses are
expensive too.  

but some of the problem is 'us' too...  we need to get excited about
learning new things.  there are too many that are not interested in
lifting a finger to promote their own education unless someone else pays
for it.   

i've seen situations where a company was totally satisfied with green
screen, had no interest in anything else, didn't want to spend any money
on new tools, and then there's a major management change, and zap, the
as/400 is gone.  they don't want to pay to improve what they have, that
is reliable and works, but they are perfectly willing to scrap and
replace it.

nj
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