Cheaper Servers? - Been there - done that

["Jon Paris" <Jon.Paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > AS/400 Advanced Portable is a full-function ....

> Now, y'all can tell me why this did not fly the last time IBM tried this.
I don't know, personally.

It did fly.  There were a lot of these boxes sold - IBM probably did not
make a lot of money, but it did sell.

The problem was it came out at the wrong point in time.  They were a CISC
boxes.  Can't run anything later that V3R2c which is why a whole bunch of
them sit quietly in their suitcases doing nothing.

Why was a Risc version never produced?  Word as I heard it was that with the
advent of the 150 (and later 170) IBM Italy didn't need them any more.
Seems that the large numbers of portables sold as small servers in the
Italian market were what made the difference between the portables being
able to be produced in sufficient quantities to justify the
development/production costs.  When the 150s came along they were cheap
enough to replace the portable and the requirement shrank to a level where
it was not economic to produce them.

Since the 400 used a custom risc chip it was not cost-effective to produce
the kind of laptop version that was produced for the RS/600 line (is that
still available?).  Now as we move toward a single chip design, maybe it
becomes practical again - who knows - I'd sure love one!

Jon Paris
Partner400