Re: Fall COMMON conference focus

On 8/9/06, wmadden@xxxxxxxxxx <wmadden@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>  My manager would like for someone to go
> but, apparently, a lot of people don't want to be bothered with
education,
> whether COMMON or some other.  So she was pleasantly surprised when I
told
> her I'd like to go.

That comment just blows my mind. I know that many on this list are those
that DO get education, but wow ... I'm glad these people are Doctors ...
I'd hate to employ a doctor that didn't feel compelled to get more
education!

the education is great but Common to me is complicit in the gearing
down and over pricing of the i5. What good is learning how to use PHP
or PASE for example, when the typical i5 model is too slow to use
those products as a core part of the system?

Timothy Prickett Morgan of ITJungle lays it on the line:
"...As I have said for many years, I think IBM's high prices for
configured machines--with or without 5250 support--are limiting the
appeal of the System i5 among the small and medium businesses that are
the bread and butter of this OS/400 ecosystem. It is a very cynical
IBM that is willing to risk alienating over 200,000 customers by such
pricing practices, and it shows once again how modern corporations
just run in 13-week cycles and often do not, regardless of what they
profess to the contrary, engage in true long-term pricing and
competitive strategy. ..."

http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh080706-story01.html

-Steve