Re: IBM overhauls iSeries for the long haul

Michael,

>Don't forget the S/32 before the S/34...and of course the System/23
>Datamaster...

The S/23 came later than the S/34, and wasn't part of the S/3x heritage.  It was
a follow-on to the 51xx family of computers.  And it had the misfortune of being
designed at the same time as the original IBM PC, and rumor has it that Intel
told IBM they couldn't supply enough 8088 chips for the projected volumes of
both the S/23 and the PC, so they had to decide which one would use 8088 and
which would use something else.  (I mismember what it used; a Mortorola cpu?)

I've sometimes wondered what would have happened if IBM decided to put the 8088
in the S/23 instead.  The S/23 Basic language was interesting because it not
only had full ISAM support for indexed files, but also the ability to do
full-screen processing with screen formats, etc.  However, it was a dog in terms
of performance...

Doug