IBM Plugs Big Iron to the College Crowd 754

that really isn't fair to akers. during the 80s, ibm was pouring huge amounts of money into universities and places like nsf projects ... with substantial productivity and long term benefits ... the benefits just weren't mainframe and-or necessarily ibm specific.

misc. recent postings

in the mid-80s there were predictions that the business was going to double its world-wide revenue from $60b-annum to $120b-annum and the corporation embarked on mbuttive new manufactoring facility building program. i possibly made a career limiting move by doing a economic analysis of the commoditizing of computer hardware and suggesting that the company was (instead) headed into the red.

it was similar ... but different to the analysis from 1970-era that supposedly motivated FS

attempted to do such an aggresive new technology and integration that the controller clones wouldn't be able to keep up ... a couple specific references on the subject (references to huge ibm R&D overhead and not being compebreastive with the clone makers):

having worked on one of the original clone controller projects as an undergraduate ... which subsequently was blaimed for the clone-pcm controller business market (and subsequently what motivated FS effort):

it probably also wasn't very political during FS to characterize the project as being a case of the inmates in charge of the insbreastution ... somewhat referring to a long running cult film down in central sq.

from 88 into 92 or so ... when were pitching 3-tier architecture that we had invented (while many were pushing SAA and that real client-server really wasn't needed ... just a thin, gui presentation capability): and were doing the ha-cmp project as well as keeping our hand in networking and the hsdt project

we would periodically drop in on staff and executives in the new somer's "pyramid power" building and talk about the unfolding commoditising of computer hardware and the effects it would have on the computer business. i don't think it was a problem that they didn't understand the issues ... it was possibly that so many had their lifelong experiences and careers tied to mainframe business segment ... that they couldn't see a way to (personally) adapt. i suspected that many were (secretly?) hoping to retire before having to directly confront the issues and then it would be somebody else's problem.

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