RE: i5....continues... -- MIDRANGE-L

One of the greatest strengths of the iSeries has been it's ability to
change.  If it was still the way it was in 1990 then I'd be coding in .net
by now.  It is a wonderfully agile box that has accommodated every change in
the technology sector over the past two decades (almost).  So I LOVE change
and the ability for the iSeries to keep up with it.  I can't think of a
platform, except the Mac, that is still in the mainstream after two decades.
However, the Mac is still called the Mac even after 20 years (yeah, there is
an iMac and an eMac but it is a Mac). When you say "Mac" you know exactly
what you are talking about even though the hardware and OS aren't even the
same. But, trying to compare "consumer marketing" with business marketing is
probably a stretch

So I guess that is my point. The market could lose track of this great box,
not because it changes capabilities , which is VERY good, but perhaps
because it's name recognition is low and difficult to keep track of. Don't
know. "Pissed off" at the change is much too strong a statement, "baffled"
is more like it.

Very much looking forward to the official announcements.  Whatever they end
up calling the iSeries, you just know the change in capabilities is going to
be great.

Pete Helgren
Timpanogos Technologies, Inc
801.892.9106 x 202



-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of trevor perry
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 1:50 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: i5....continues...


My perspective on marketing is that BRAND recognition is more important than
NAME recognition. I think a new name may be more obscure for the people who
have been here for a while. On the other hand, with Power5, IMO a new name
might get this technology into the hands of more people who previously
associated it with that "old/outdated/proprietary" AS/400.

Opinions like "A new name was/is not what the product line needed" do not
take into account that IBM is looking at a bigger picture than our small
OS/400 world. This is a new product.. If the only disadvantages to a new
name are that it pisses off some of the faithful, then, whether it is
~needed~ or not, that is a small price to pay for matching the name to the
technology.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Pat Barber" <mboceanside@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: i5....continues...


> My point was that name recognition is everything in
> marketing and when a product loses it's name, it is
> VERY hard to get that back.
>
> IBM has spent millions in losing the name recognition of
> a box nobody clearly understood to begin with.
>
> A new name was/is not what the product line needed.
>
> A product line that has less than 8% in "new installs"
> needs much more than a new name.
>
> Assuming the rumor is true about a new name, giving the
> name i5/os will obscure the product even more.
>
>
> trevor perry wrote:
> > I don't understand something. So far, the noise about i5/OS has been
mostly
> > complaining. What is going on?

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