On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 4:57 PM, Justin Dearing <zippy1981@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 4:46 PM Roger Harman <roger.harman@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Personally, I cringe every time I hear "AS400" or "the 400" due to the
negative inferences people make.
I see that side of the argument. On the other hand, if you say AS/400,
people have an (outdated) idea what your talking about. If you say iSeries
or IBM i, many people don't. I feel compelled to call it an AS/400 to
people that don't have midrange experience simply because they probably
worked some place that had one in a data center.
I think I get what you're saying. I was going to say something
similar, but I would phrase it differently. If I understand you
correctly, you are saying that there is a sizable population that at
least knows what an "AS/400" is. This is far greater than the
population that can even recognize any other names for the IBM
midrange platform.
I would wholeheartedly agree with that. It has been my experience as
well. I would also challenge the notion that "AS/400" only produces
"negative inferences". The table of responses I've personally
encountered is something like
AS/400: Oh, it's a kind of stodgy but extremely reliable machine.
iSeries: Huh?
IBM i: WTF is that?
IBM midrange: <blank stare>
There is absolutely, positively no chance of dislodging the "AS/400"
terminology where I work. Zero. None. It simply cannot be done. You
would have a much easier time moving the entire Sahara desert into
Siberia, one grain of sand at a time.
However! What you CAN do where I work is show people a Web site that
is running on "the Four Hundred" (even though ours happens to be a
POWER7). They like that. They think it's cool.
I understand the desire to eradicate "AS/400". I truly do. I
sympathize, and I even do try to do my part. I use "IBM i" with folks
who either already recognize it, or who do not have the term "AS/400"
firmly entrenched. But for some audiences, it's easier to make them
think positively of "AS/400" than to teach them "IBM i".
And honestly, there are also some folks who will never shake their
negative connotations of "AS/400"; and if you teach them "IBM i", all
that you will do is create a person who has negative connotations of
"IBM i". Lipstick on a pig and all that.
John Y.
midrange.com
