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I saw this on /. two days ago, then yesterday I got the other news item from one of my buddies. Mike Wills iSeries Programmer mnwills@taylorcorp.com (507) 386-3187 -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Lewis [mailto:clewis@iquest.net] Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 8:54 AM To: midrange-l@midrange.com Subject: RE: OS/2 is FINALLY History (per IBM) :-( Well read this Mike, it's where I got it from: -----Original Message----- From: CNET News.com [mailto:Online#3.32536.32323837343236.1@newsletter.online.com] Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 8:17 AM To: clewis@iquest.net Subject: CNET NEWS.CONTEXT: OS/2: The road not traveled CNET | News.context The pundits' take on the hottest trends and events affecting business and technology. December 12, 2002 OS/2: The road not traveled When word came down this week that IBM had finally, officially and belatedly nailed shut the coffin on supporting its OS/2 operating system, I couldn't help wondering what might have been, had Big Blue chosen to fight it out. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=4a-HcgUIPp80hIp-2RxhEgyVhIhKxsR The OS/2 saga is fated to go down in the annals of great lost causes. I personally loved the product, but was part of a distinct minority. By the time Chairman Lou Gerstner arrived on the scene at IBM, Microsoft's Windows had amassed a virtually insurmountable lead in market share among operating systems. No sentimentalist, Gerstner chose to cut IBM's losses and concentrate the company's attention on more profitable software projects. I recently had a chance to ask Gerstner whether he had any regrets on his decision to back away from OS/2. My question: When it came to a feature comparison, wasn't OS/2 actually the better product and mightn't IBM have found a way to avoid a rout by Microsoft during the browser wars? "Didn't matter when the other guy had 95 percent market share," Gerstner snorted. Next question. It was spoken like a true numbers guy, and it's hard to challenge the wisdom of his decision. Why pour money down a sinkhole when there's virtually no chance it will change a thing? In an indirect way, OS/2 was an expensive lesson that reinforced IBM's determination to go about software in ways that played to its traditional strengths. OS/2 also forced the folks at IBM to adopt a more-open systems attitude--not because they're nice, but because they saw it as a way to defeat Microsoft. You see the results today. The investments in DB2 database software and WebSphere e-business software are paying off handsomely. And instead of taking on Microsoft in the desktop arena, IBM is concentrating on high-end software development and enterprise applications where the margins are fatter and the competition less severe. (Witness the company's planned acquisition of Rational Software.) http://cl.com.com/Click?q=60-oqItIsElhX07nYI0c1-2okkFL69R In the end, it didn't make a whit's difference whether OS/2 bested Windows on its technological merits. Coulda, woulda, shoulda don't cut it in a winning strategy, and IBM's brass simply knew it was time to move on. Charlie Cooper, Executive Editor/Commentary mailto:charles.cooper@cnet.com <---------------Advertisement---------------> VERITAS Software Makes Solaris Fly Independent benchmarks prove VERITAS Software makes Solaris(tm) 9 run 15 times faster, with 7 times faster recovery and 7 times more availability. Download the white paper now. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=75-whwtIKUlzc14r2K4j2nZOzpLBIuR <-------------------------------------------> Elsewhere in the last week in CNET News.context: 1. Sidestepping the new IT crisis Internet veteran Marc Andreessen says that after the frenzy and hype of the bubble, the IT world faces a new, uncertain future which requires it reinvent itself--or suffer the consequences of benign neglect. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=8a-3y3dQXnJ4H2TnEHHF3Qcvb6hZCyR 2. Escaping the PC sales pitch When shopping for a new computer, congenital mall-haters such as CNET News.com's Charles Cooper no longer have to grin and bear outrageous incompetence. Consumers have an option--and it's only a single keystroke away. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=9f-o7XMQ1JJEByvr0oc2FNHkqFcpWPR 3. An answer to Wi-Fi's discontents On his monthly hunt to chronicle technology's next big thing, CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos examines Texas start-up's prospects of rewriting the Wi-Fi landscape. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=b4-aJlbQ6ZFHbrsoA7r0gBuyUHzWwnR *****************************also from CNET Networks********** White papers to get your company into the black As IT spending has slowed, IT managers are having to make prudent purchasing decisions--even as the demands on their infrastructure may be increasing. To help with tough choices, CNET's White Paper Directory features information on processors, memory components, database servers as well as other hardware. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=c9-3OZLQpgsZHJHS_Y7wV-ubrPvuVrR ************************************************************** 4. A high price for broadband CNET News.com Washington watcher Declan McCullagh says the politicians may finally succeed in funneling billions of dollars into subsidizing high-speed connections next year--but only through new tax-and-spend schemes. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=de-7tpkQMW5gphX52t_AGB4XNzjxjiR 5. Nano-hype and market reality Sevin Rosen Funds' Daniel Leff writes that nanotechnology is still maturing as a science, let alone a technology, and a backlash against its over-the-top promises was entirely predictable. http://cl.com.com/Click?q=f3-LjwgQJOD8sjxIJzqON_k0IyjojlR _________________________________________________________________ The e-mail address for your subscription is clewis@iquest.net To Sign up for more CNET newsletters, click here: http://nl.com.com/servlet/url_login?email=clewis@iquest.net&brand=cnet To unsubscribe, click here: http://cl.com.com/Click?q=09-jo3SzE8NwkeH6R7JbSmRZwA5i82a To update your newsletter subscriptions, click here: http://nl.com.com/servlet/url_login?email=clewis@iquest.net&brand=cnet For the CNET Newsletters FAQ, click here: http://cl.com.com/Click?q=1e-JQuLI4jBxRNc7wsRPdDrWj37R9iR To learn about advertising opportunities in CNET Newsletters, click here: http://cl.com.com/Click?q=33-vUjnINjjJEgHsXYZYn_1hK87-RlR Please send any questions, comments, or concerns to mailto:dispatchfeedback@news.com Copyright 2002 CNET Networks, Inc. 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