Re: Thank for your correspondence - The letter I got from the folks at FAST400

[John Ross <jross-ml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

So if everyone went to java, so we would not be flipping burgers, the only
ones that would of been flipping burgers would of been IBM management.

And from what I hear the Risc/6000 (pSeries, or what ever it is called) is
the same as the AS/400 (iSeries) so is the interactive tax supporting it also.

I am not for Fast/400. I an not going to buy a broadband connection to the
Internet and then try to figure a way to make it faster. Or get cable and
take the blocks off for the premium channels. But what I do like about
Fast/400 is that it is letting other AS/400 users know that the interactive
tax is not hardware. And I hope if enough users complain about it, IBM may
rethink their position on the pricing.  I really think the interactive tax
is so high because IBM knows they have you between a rock and a hard place.

And I wonder how many users sitting on old hardware can not afford to move
to supported hardware because of the interactive tax. I know of one sitting
on a 620, with a fax adaptor and an INS (or whatever it was called on that
model). But he can not afford to buy the 85 interactive CPW on a new
server, even if it cost him more in maintenance on an older AS400 in the
long run. If IBM wants customers off the old hardware all they would have
to say is you pay the cost of the server and you can get the same
interactive you have now for the trade in, to see how much the interactive
tax is hindering sales of new hardware.  Of course some will stay with the
old hardware because they know if they upgrade to new hardware and need
more interactive in the future they will have to over pay for it. But if
they stay with a 620 they can buy a used processor with more interactive
(since it is not separated on these models between batch and interactive)
cheap on the second hand market.

It is not just the interactive tax I think is to high, it is pretty much
everything, but then it comes out of my checking account.

John Ross

At 06:34 PM 7/8/02 -0400, you wrote:

I recognize that many customers (including you) are mad at IBM for levying
a premium for interactive processing power, but you need to understand what
your actions will ultimately cause.  IBM is in the business of making
money, and if IBM management doesn't make enough money, the IBM Board
(representing the stockholders) will fire them and get new management that
can make money.  This is a simple business proposition.