Re: The Perpetual Myth of iSeries Obsolescence

Just to add my $.02 to this discussion.
  If there is a good business reason to change the application UI to use a 
browser or other GUI interface, then a case should be made to management and if 
approved, scheduled for assignment.
  If not, then I think that most of us have more than enough on our plates than 
just making changes to the UI because it looks better.
   
  

Jerry Adams <jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  Rob Dixon wrote:

>What you seem to be saying is that if we all do it your way, then the 
>debate is dead.
>
>It seems to me that you wish to crush us into submission. As your record 
>seems to be stuck, this is not a very effective way of influencing opinion.
>
> 
>
It seems that most contributors to the thread have a particular point of 
view and, like the oak tree, won't bend. 

Trevor's a crusader (but, then, so was Don Quixote) and all crusaders, 
as well as the opposing Saracens, are very firm in their commitment. 
The whole thread reminds me of seminary students debating whether 
there's a hell or not. Removing the rhetoric, though, Trevor is right. 


I think that most of us, myself included, have looked at our existing 
panels and assumed that putting a mouse or gui interface on top of them 
would not improve things. Probably true. Soon after the thread began 
(who started this thread, anyway?!), I took a tour of our shop; mostly 
data entry. Now, our order takers are fast! Sometimes the customers 
calling in can't keep up. But with just a little imagination, I saw 
half a dozen (commonly used) programs that - if they were re-engineered, 
not just gui-ed - could be improved.



>It is time to move on.
> 
>

It is indeed. The other point that, I think, Trevor has been trying to 
make is that it is our careers on the line. Thirty-five years ago I 
programmed for 96-column cards and such. Then they brought in a 
terminal. Then a scanner. Etc. We've now got more tools available to 
us in the System i than any sane person could want; just imagine the 
possibilities!

>> 
>>
>>Seems like if 
>>DVORAK didn't work, the keyboard is considered by the industry as an 
>>outdated model anyway!! :-)
>>
>> 
>>
Here I must humbly disagree with Trevor's assessment. The DVORAK 
keyboard failed to catch on simply because of the entrenched user set. 
Maybe that tells us something.




* Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
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