Re: Green-screen versus browser

On 4/25/05, Doug Hart <DougHart@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Green screen is:
> 1. More network efficient
> 2. More CPU efficient
> 3. More user efficient
> 4. More secure

and
  5. a complete dead end for the programmers who work on it!

-Steve

> 
> ---
> Doug Hart
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Reeve
> Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 11:02 PM
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: Green-screen versus browser
> 
> 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.
> 
> "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.
> 
> "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).
> 
> Am I missing any points meaningful to senior management?
> 
> Thanks,
> Reeve
> 
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