WDSc Futures

message: 8
date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:46:23 -0500
from: "albartell" <albartell@xxxxxxxxx>
subject: Re: [WDSCI-L] WDSC Futures

Nice of IBM to decide this right as Vista becomes available, don't you

think?

This specific point/scenario is really what makes it feel like a bait
and
switch to me.  I am still scratching my head at the whole ordeal.
George
made is sound like this AE stuff was only going to be for a time, but
then
why did marketing do it in the first place?  Really makes a person not
want
to adopt anything more than the most basic features in WDSC, knowing
that
most likely those will always be no additional charge; but the more
advanced
features carry a potential burden of many $K's in the future.

Here is a story on it for anybody that hasn't read it yet:
http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh032607-story01.html


Aaron Bartell

The article is rather telling in IBM's attitude towards RPG.  I have
been writing modular (reusable) code for about 20 years and I bet I am
not alone.  I did it because I am lazy and didn't like coding the same
routines over and over again.  I put them in copy books because that was
the only way to do it.  Now those copy books have become called programs
(procedures) and stored procedures.  It may not fit the Windows idea of
OOP, but it does the job quite well, thank you.

It is this attitude towards RPG and those of us who have helped
companies improve the bottom line for the past 35 years that is
annoying.  Maybe I can't put a dancing frog on the screen of an analysis
program, but what does that frog add to the actual value of the program?
I will agree I have some programs that I would love to move off a "green
screen" and make it browser friendly so I could present more data in a
more readable fashion.  I can't do that because, "I am a legacy
programmer on a legacy system", therefore I have no ongoing value to
add.  Some wet behind the ears recent grad from the Columbia School of
programming and Feng Shui can put frogs and all sorts of cute things on
a screen and have it play Def Lepord music at the same time, but knows
nothing about the business.

IMHO the bait is US.  Somewhere in the hidey holes of Armonk, one of the
afore mentioned grads decided that RPG was bad (sound familiar).  Then
the decision was made to produce a steam fired high tech hammer to kill
a mosquito and WBSPHERE was developed.  Many in the business world
looked and couldn't or wouldn't accept the cost and overhead involved
and the MAPS program got hatched and is growing.  Dot NET is the current
buzz word now and I have seen the problems in large apps with that
approach.  JAVA seems a bit wordy for a business solution and is a
resource hog.  Companies like ASNA and BCD seem to have viable
solutions.  Just a little late.