Re: Green-screen versus browser -- MIDRANGE-L

The customer, a big multinational corporation, already has a large IT
operation for the U.S. with several (6?) boxes (supporting several
hundred locations) installed at a central location.  There are a
couple of new management faces and I'd like to make sure the senior
management team has a current view of the platform.

-reeve

On 4/24/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Steve,
> 
> Thanks for your comments.
> 
> Well, let's face it: IE has been a major target of the virus and
> spyware writers.
> 
> I'll restate my interest in browser-based applications primarily
> because I can do so much more with them.  And I don't give a hoot
> about cross-platform capabilities; my applications handle high volumes
> (25,000 invoices entered, priced, and delivered every day, and then
> all those 25,000 transactions go through another operations process of
> equal complexity) and I need a robust batch environment to support
> that process and lots of reporting.
> 
> I am considering refactoring tools, 4GL's, and .net solutions.  I'll
> spend all I have to to get the right one, which will utilize a single
> black box sitting in a locked, lights-out room.
> 
> -reeve
> 
> On 4/24/05, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On 4/24/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > I'm writing a management paper for a customer (in support of the
> > > iSeries but trashing the WebSphere "solution" and the lack of native
> > > browser support) and working on a concise description of the
> > > green-screen vs. browser question.  The context is to explain why the
> > > iSeries, in spite of all its greatness (performance, low TCO,
> > > reliability), isn't known to and/or accepted by a large portion of the
> > > IT community.  One factor is IBM's previous marketing failures (no
> > > other word for it, sorry; well, maybe "absence"); another reason is
> > > the preponderance of the green-screen UI, my current topic.
> > >
> > > Here's what I have so far:
> > >
> > > "The problem with green-screen is that the programmer is limited to a
> > > fixed font size, a limited color palette, essentially no support for
> > > graphics, only 132 columns (across), only 27 lines (down), and the
> > > requirement to use a non-standard, usually non-free terminal emulation
> > > program (Client Access, etc.), which means you can't talk directly to
> > > many new communications devices like PDA's.
> >
> > telnet is just as standard as the browser.  and why would management
> > care about the small cost a of Client Access equipped device when they
> > are paying 10s of thousands of $$ for the employee using the device?
> > The advantage the browser has over green screen is that it is just a
> > lot better ... in all categories.
> >
> > > "There is nothing innately good about browsers; except for Firefox,
> > > they're bloated with generally useless features, each has its own
> > > unique characteristics (meaning it doesn't work exactly the same as
> > > other browsers), and many continue to be a gateway ("Gates way"?) for
> > > viruses and spyware.
> >
> > Reeve, if you write this to management, they are likely to see you as
> > an as400 luddite more concerned with grinding his "MS sucks" axe
> > instead of solving business problems. IMO, of course :)
> >
> > >
> > > "The benefit of browsers is that the programmer has much greater
> > > control over what the user sees and how the screen works...but it
> > > takes a lot more programming effort to deliver a browser-based
> > > application.  The basic tradeoff is balancing time-to-deliver (low for
> > > green-screen, high for browser), function (low for green screen, high
> > > for browser), and performance (relatively high for green-screen,
> > > relatively low for browser).
> >
> > Only on the as400 is this true.  In windows a competent programmer can
> > deliver asp.net, browser based functionality in a fraction of the time
> > it takes to write a desktop application.
> >
> > > Am I missing any points meaningful to senior management?
> >
> > tell them, if they want to leverage the value of their as400
> > applications and database, that they should move as quickly as
> > possible to a setting where asp.net and windows forms are the front
> > end to the business objects and whatever on a state of the art iSeries
> > server.
> >
> > good luck!
> >
> > -Steve
> >
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Reeve
> > >
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