Re: Changed to: Interactive Tax

Leif Svalgaard wrote:

>>Then why were you saying there was no alternative to the iSeries? (this
>>was the point Adam was making)
>>
>You ought to know better. But just in case: for the 5250 people
>there is nowhere else to go. And most people don't want to
>re-engineer something that works, so they are stuck. That's
>the monopoly.
>
Leif, you really should know better. 5250 stream is just a flavor.
terminals have been in use in ASCII settings and in host computing
settings. There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of "dumb terminals" to use
and emulate. IBM's "monopoly" i s just that they do "dumb terminal",
integrated application server processing better than anyone else. So you
like their flavor best? Coke isn't a monopoly because they are the only
ones allowed to sell a product with their recipe.

Your complaint that IBM holds an iSeries "monopoly" and is choking it
for money is as hollow as if you were complaining that GM has a Cadillac
monopoly and that's why they sell them for more than Kia's cost.

People who are pricing the "interactive tax" are looking at buying a
computer. They have the option of pricing out their lifetime cost and
return on investment and making a decision as to what costs them less.
If they gave up 5250 data stream, would they have to give up any
functionality at all? Is there something that iSeries 5250 provides that
cannot be found someplace else in the market? No. The answer is that it
is cheaper to buy the iSeries and pay for the interactive feature than
it is to go with a competing product. No matter how often people whine
and cry about how much cheaper every other product in the marketplace
is, iSeries buyers continually determine their best ROI is from staying
where they are at.

There is a difference between "a monopoly" and "the best choice." The
iSeries is "the best choice" because you picked it. If you could not go
with any other solution (like if there were no other accounting packages
in the world except on iSeries) then it would be a monopoly.

See, Ben and Jerry's isn't a monopoly because they are the only ones
selling "Cherry Garcia." Even if they charge a lot for it and I can't
buy it from other ice cream makers. It's just a flavor, I have choices.
If I like it best, I'll buy it.

--
Chris Rehm
javadisciple@earthlink.net

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John 4:7