RE: New names

[Buck Calabro <buck.calabro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>IMO, companies do NOT choose to buy AS/400-iSeries over other platforms for
>"great" programs, primarily because I think most good applications are
ported
>to multiple platforms nowadays, but rather they choose AS/400-iSeries
because
>it is a rock-solid platform with a damned good OS that hardly ever goes
down
>and, oh yes, it is one of the platforms that happens to run the software
>package they're interested in.  (O.K., maybe not necessarily in that order
of
>priority.)

With the greatest of respect I disagree on several points.

1) Most good applications are not ported to multiple platforms, or if they
are, the "native" platform is always seen as the premier system.  Witness
Word for Mac.
2) Software sales drive the hardware/OS sales.  It was true in the 80's and
is true today.  Thousands of accountants walked into their local computer
store and said "I want to buy Lotus.  Sell me whatever computer runs it."
They did not choose hardware and then ask what software can run on it.

>what is a "great program"?

My opinion: One that tens of thousands of people can readily name.  Word,
1-2-3 and Quake meet this criteria.  No matter how good they are, Code/400,
DBU and neither Visual RPG do.  Nobody buys an AS/400 because they can run
Turnover on it.

Buck Calabro
Aptis; Albany, NY
"Nothing is so firmly believed as
 that which we least know" -- Michel Montaigne
Visit the Midrange archives at http://www.midrange.com
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