RE: [RPGIV] AS/400 is dead long live iSeries? (fwd) -- MIDRANGE-L

I want to complain, too! Yes, I agree that IBM's marketing of the AS/400 has
always been a flop. Rather than selling the box on the proven merits that
have endeared it to its traditional customer base, they keep that message
secret and instead try to sell it against PCs and Unix servers who's
customers are not even looking for an alternative, especially an alternative
that is slower, more expensive, and based on proprietary architecture.

I also agree that IBM makes it terribly difficult and time consuming to buy
their hardware, their software, and their services. Many a day my neighbors
at work are treated to me slamming down the phone in a fit of curses after I
finish speaking with someone at IBM who has no idea what I am talking about
even though they are listed as the contact point for questions. This is
frequently in response to an email from IBM in which they have unneccesarily
repackaged and further complicated one of their offerings "to serve me
better". In fairness, they usually don't say that it is "to serve me better"
- they usually give no reason and it is quite obvious that it is only to
"charge me more". I have spent 18 years working on various IBM hardware and
software from POS terminals to mainframes and they have some great products
and services, but you really have to be persistent to get what you need. In
my old mainframe days it was the IBM SE that helped you navigate their rocky
waters, but apparently SE support for midrange ended about the time I
started working on them. Just my great sense of timing. ;-)

What I really want to complain about is developer support. How does IBM
expect this box to become popular when they make it virtually impossible for
someone to start out developing for it? With a $1000 PC or two and a $2500
MSDN subscription, I can be developing for M$, armed with every tool,
compiler, and bloated product that Bill Gates can ship. For even less money,
I can do Linux and open source. But after years of IBM trying to address
this issue, I'm still looking at $10,000 for a small iSeries box and then at
least $1200 for each compiler and tool. Not to mention OS/400. And don't
forget the monthly support fees. But don't worry, I can get a partnership
deal with a 1% lease for all that stuff - just jump through all IBM's hoops
and make lots of legal and marketing commitments that one cannot possibly
make as an independent upstart. If I can't get going on this platform that I
am already sold on, what's the chance of attracting some enthusiastic young
college student? It is kind of like credit - the people who can get it are
the people who don't need it.

OK. Enough whining. That week of list deprivation had me all backed up. I
feel better now. Thanks.

- Marty
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