RE: The Perpetual Myth of iSeries Obsolescence

   Not all technology in common usage is considered obsolete because it has
   not changed in appearance in a long time.

   The Constitution of the USA is one of the most prized possessions of this
   United States.  Only traitors suggest that we should chuck it out because
   it is over 200 years OLD.  Most people recognize that it is structured to
   support continuous improvement, and if some part of it is not working
   effectively, it includes mechanisms for self-repair through citizen
   involvement.  That many people do not apply that principle to other areas
   of our lives, is not because they do not understand the principle, but
   that they have bought into a propaganda bill of goods.

   While everyone knows what it is, not everyone remembers all the features
   such as what all 10 Bill of Rights are, or what the President can do
   without getting permission from Congress..

   From time to time we find it neccessary to replace our private
   automobile.  The replacement vehicle usually is over 90% identical to the
   earlier one in terms of size, engine, gas mileage, 4 wheels etc.  There
   are some features we might not want, such as air bags before they are
   perfected, or the smart car technology when it has lots of bugs.  People
   stick with brand names when they get quality out of the box (on wheels),
   good service as needed, low cost of ownership.  They seldom fall for slick
   marketing that claims this other brand name is superior because yours is
   legacy.

   The homes of common folk also has function that has had continuous
   improvement over decades, but looks pretty much same as decades ago, and
   we do not say our homes are obsolete legacy because of this.  While there
   are various styling changes in appearance seen by people out in public,
   the AS/400 is not out in public being seen by people.  It is in some
   closet running a company's needs. 

   A problem can be that managers who use it only see what it has been used
   for so far, not what it could be used for, so they can get the false
   notion that it cannot do something, and fall for marketing by an IBM
   competitor that some other computer can do something better than IBM.

   Public Transportation has not changed in appearance in decades, other than
   a bit of streamlining, internal comfort, and the suggestion that school
   busses ought to have seat belts.  So people get on a Bus, Train, Subway,
   Taxi, Plane, that looks today very much like they did decades ago.  People
   do not refuse to use this utility because it looks obsolete.  Further they
   do not call it a legacy system.

   We live in homes whose energy is gas and electricity.  We don't quit using
   electricity because it is old legacy obsolete concept.

   Kitchen appliances, such as the Refrigerator, Oven have a physical
   appearance that is very similar to over 50 years ago, but people do not
   consider them obsolete because they lack new styling.  A few features get
   added from time to time, and some even go away because of environmental
   restrictions.  For example, ice making got taken out of refrigerators to
   comply with government mandates to use less electricity, with separate ice
   makers marketed, meaning that people get the same service with more
   electricity, thanks to government mandates to lower electrical usage ...
   like the smaller toilets have to be flushed more often to comply with
   government mandates to save water.

   C-Span Books this weekend had a Unix guy touting his book on computer
   insecurity at NSA and other places on Unix.  If what he says is correct,
   anyone who uses Unix, where computer security is needed, is brain dead.

   People call IBM products legacy systems because COMPETITORS of IBM use the
   word in a derogatory manner.  It's not just that's what the competition
   tells their customers and prospective customers, but with the help of the
   computer news media, a lot of prospective customers of all of IBM's
   potential competition.

   It is comparable to the people marketing the internal combustion engine a
   century ago.  They said that the external combustion engine was dangerous,
   could blow up, that their approach was much safer.  The Stanley Steamer
   company offered a huge reward to anyone who could prove one of their autos
   had ever blown up, and there were no takers, but they and other external
   combustion engine cars were driven out of business due to people believing
   the propaganda of the internal combustion engine industry, at a time when
   the external combustion engine was far superior.

   So today, we live in a reality where none of IBM's competition can hold a
   candle to the quality, security, economy, ROI etc. of IBM computing, so
   since they cannot beat IBM on the merits of their products, they have this
   marketing campaign that labels IBM as a legacy dinosaur.  It is a very
   effective marketing technique.

   -
   Al Macintyre
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:AlMac
   http://www.ryze.com/go/Al9Mac
   BPCS/400 Computer Janitor ... see
   http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/11/08/bpcsDocSources.html