Re: iSeries revenue plummets

Best features?

- How about the technology independent machine interface (TIMI)? We've
got programs written and compiled decades ago (S/38 era) that still run.
And thanks to TIMI, they're fully 64-bit RISC now. Name another platform
which doesn't require wholesale reworking or at least recompiling to get
there.

- Object-based system. A program is a program and a file is a file. You
can't load a file and then tell the system it's a program that needs to be
executed.

These are just two more I wouldn't want to forget. Are they enough to
keep the platform alive and vital? Obviously not, they've been part of it
since the S/38 days.

As for other systems getting better, that's true. But the AS/400 -
iSeries - System i has that built in to the hardware level. I love the
way pointers are rendered invalid when changed by something other than the
CPU. It locks out buffer overflow exploits/problems. Sure you can do
things to crash your program, but nobody else can step on my program's
address space and pointers.

Unfortunately, it appears IBM execs think that they only need educate the
techies as to the benefits of the system (and they don't do a very good
job of that). Executives who have yes or no authority in purchasing
decisions don't go to them System i web-site and look at the marketing
videos IBM's prepared. The laughing boardroom series was fantastic. Even
just the tag line at the end was powerful: "IBM e-Server iSeries. One day
all computers will be like this." That could have been a powerful
marketing tool.

midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 11/20/2007 08:27:10 AM:

date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:17:54 -0500
from: PaulMmn <PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
subject: Re: iSeries revenue plummets

Best features?

-- Integrated Database

-- Integrated Security

-- Single-level data storage

I think these are the 3 features that make the iSeries unique.

--Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



At 7:50 AM -0500 11/20/07, fbocch2595@xxxxxxx wrote:

What are the aspects of the iSeries that make it the best business
machine?? Are those things enough to keep companies buying it in
numbers that will keep the platform alive??