RE: Ain't it the truth

Change is bad.

I can remember similar cynical comments from the System/38 community when
the AS/400 came out.  To many it was a rack-mounted 38 with the function
keys and option numbers shuffled.  Dan's comments make it seem as if it was
just the AS/400 that was renamed, not the entire IBM product line.

I used to say that the renaming the AS/400 the iSeries was the most
significant product realignment since Plain M&M's became Milk Chocolate
M&M's.  I was wrong.  Recently I've witnessed a prominent IT executive's
interest over the potential of IBM's new iSeries.  This executive had
previously referred to AS/400's as dinosaurs.  These folks are the target
audience for IBM's marketing.  If a name change helps to overcome perception
issues I'd say it's a good thing.

In the 80's Chevy reintroduced the Nova.  It was a rebadged Toyota Corolla
-- front wheel drive, four cylinder economy car.  Still, my friend's dad, a
major executive, was excited that they had brought the car back.  Names make
a difference.

Functions and features on the AS/400 - iSeries are drastically different
than they were even six years ago, let alone when the AS/400 was introduced.
There've been so many incremental or evolutionary changes in both hardware
and OS that it's not possible to define a point in time when the product
became something different.  I don't think a marketing strategy of "This is
not your father's AS/400" would do too well.

I've just been surfing the HP site.  The name hp9000 has all but
disappeared.  I'm off in search of an HP/UX forum so I can see if their
community is up in arms about it.

-Jim



> This is from NEWS Wire Daily:
>
> **FROM DAN DYBWAD, via e-mail:
> It's great that the new iSeries 890 has such superb performance, but
> Rochester needs to remember that the "iSeries" was only a name
> change. I defy anyone to tell me that the 890 would run any slower
> if it carried an "AS/400" logo on the front cover instead.
>
> The AS/400 went through a large number of major technological
> changes in its lifetime and still worked fine when it was called an
> "AS/400." The change of the name to the "iSeries" is only a marketing
> gimmick to "freshen" the product.
>
> Ian Jarman seems to "dis" the AS/400 in his recent comments
> regarding how fast the 890 is -- performance the "AS/400" couldn't
> match. He needs to remember that there are a couple hundred thousand
> AS/400s in use, operated by a few hundred thousand proud and
> extremely loyal AS/400 users. Ian, just tell me how great the new
> stuff is, don't bad-mouth the old stuff.
>
> My 820 says "eServer" on the front, but it knows it's really an
> "AS/400" inside.