Chuck,
I think that is the first question to ask - WHY do I want to access my
system through a smart phone?
If it is for system management, and I am out with David's wife for dinner, I
brought my laptop! My argument was, that if I need to access my 'system'
from an iPhone, why are you limiting it to a 5250 emulator?
The better reason for accessing my 'system' through my smartphone is to
access an ~application~. If my application is green only, then I will need a
5250 interface. If my smartphone supports 5250, then I have a way to access
my app. If my application has been modernized or webified, then I can access
my application with a web+browser interface - the one that comes with every
smartphone.
My perspective is that I spend lots of time in the year talking about
strategy and modernization. Having a 5250 interface on an iPhone is great
for the techies on this list who want to access their 'AS/400', but it is
not something that any company will include in a modernization strategy.
And, given that it is 7 years into the 21st century, why are we still
talking green apps? Even a simple refacing will allow you to get your i app
in a browser on an iPhone.
On this list, we talk about 'system' as though it is everything. From a user
perspective, they should only know about apps. From a programmer
perspective, they should know about OS and tools primarily. For systems
support, they need to know about the system. Historically, the users thought
the AS/400 ~was~ the application. The programmers thought the AS/400 ~was~
the development environment. System support thought the AS/400 was the
management tool. Our next environment in this platform will be IBM i running
on Power Systems using RDi. Try and tell the user that their application is
called that, and then ask them to use the 'old' green screen app on a modern
smartphone device. I think you will get much laughter from the rest of the
IT world.
Trevor
P.S. I don't think David brings a laptop for lunch with his wife, nor does
he actually need one!
On 7/25/08 10:26 AM, "Chuck Lewis" <chuck.lewis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So how do you access your system from a smart phone Trevor ?
Serious question here.
And David is the one that bought the iPhone and started this tread.
I think Booth has a Jitterbug :-)
Chuck
midrange.com
