RE: Is the death of CFINT available for current AS/400 owners?

> From: Nathan M. Andelin
>
> Here's the beef (well, one example):
>
> Model 270-2248 with 25/150 CPW and having a base price of 12,000 vs. Model
> 800-2463 with 25/300 CPW and having a base price of 10,000.

Okay.  Double the power for roughly the same price.  Isn't that what happens
everywhere else in the industry roughly every year or two?  I'm reasonably
certain I bought my 2.4GHz laptop for roughly the same price I'd have bought
a 1GHz laptop for a year or so ago.

Okay, so the biggest announcement since Prometheus gave us the secret of
fire is:

"IBM follows industry trend on price/performance."

That's cool, but certainly not earth-shattering, Nathan.  As much as I love
IBM, I think the hype here is just a TAD bit overstated.

That's my opinion.  And remember, I'm thrilled with the announcement.
Software vendors now are going to need a zero-interactive solution, and it's
either WebFacing or PSC/400.  And WebFacing requires WebSphere, needs a huge
PC-based tool, requires iSeries CPW to run, needs the latest version of
software, and doesn't have a green screen emulation mode.  Pluta Brothers
Design is in a very good position with this announcement.


> IBM may be right on target here.  They may see so many shops using the
> system almost exclusively for traditional workloads.  A substantial cut in
> "interactive" price/performance may be just the incentive they
> need to buy a
> new box - and begin experimenting with Websphere.

I want to caution people to get the whole story.  Some people are going to
be less than satisfied.  Those that need a lot of batch CPW and a medium
amount of interactive are in a VERY bad position - without the upgrading to
an Enterprise Edition iSeries could be a significant increase in price.

Besides, who is IBM to take somebody who has a working solution and "incent"
them to "experiment" with WebSphere?  That's hubris of the highest order,
more on the order of Microsoft than IBM.

There are also a few other goodies.  For example, I hear software support is
bundled with software subscription now.  This is unsubstantiated, but you
might want to ask around.

Anyway, I'm still looking for the beef, Nathan.  Lemme know if you see any.

Joe