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

Reeve:

I had to re-read your original post after reading all the responses. It seems 
that you are contrasting GUI/browser access to iSeries data/applications with 
green-screen access to the same data/applications.

If so, then there is no need to discuss many issues that are clearly tied to 
accessing similar data/applications that might reside on Windows or other 
servers?

Is that a good interpretation of what you're after?

Tom Liotta


midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>   1. Green-screen versus browser (Reeve)
>
>date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 20:02:25 -0700
>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?

--
Tom Liotta
The PowerTech Group, Inc.
19426 68th Avenue South
Kent, WA 98032
Phone  253-872-7788 x313
Fax    253-872-7904
http://www.powertech.com


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