RE: Did we have another name change? -- MIDRANGE-L

No Lou, I'm talking about shutting out new talent and innovation because of
fear or laziness.  I'm no newbie to this platform, having started with the
S/36 while in high school.  My entire career is based on midrange, and I
love our platform.  But I've NEVER worked for a shop where I didn't have to
fight (sometimes in peril of losing my job) for the adoption of new
technology.  

I know that not all shops work this way, but I believe (based on MY
experiences) that most midrange shops adopt this ambivalence to change.  I
have felt frustrated by this again and again, and feel that this attitude is
killing our platform....

Ageist?  Perhaps....  Again, in my experience, the senior exec(s) in IT sets
the tone and direction of the shop.  If the tone comes across as "do it the
way we've always done it", then innovation is immediately eliminated....  

I know my original post was worded to be somewhat offensive.  I'll apologize
for that, but I stand by my notion that we "professionals" need to be more
accepting of new ideas.  We need to dazzle the young talent with
possibilities instead of forcing them into submission.  We must accept that
what we did in 1986 is not applicable to today's application consumers.

JMO,

Eric DeLong
Sally Beauty Company
MIS-Project Manager (BSG)
940-297-2863 or ext. 1863



-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Lou Forlini
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 11:53 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Did we have another name change?


At 10:55 AM -0500 4/13/06, DeLong, Eric wrote:
>I feel that too many "professionals" have become career coasters, willing
to
>simply rest on their 1982 laurels....  Go on, retire already and make way
>for the real programmers.  Some people rant and rave at IBM because of the
>"Greying of COMMON", saying that there's no new blood coming onto the
>platform.  In fact, there will be little new blood comming to the platform
>as long as these programmers are not allowed to embrace the new
>technologies.  How does it sound to a prospective new-hire when they are
>told that "ILE is a no-no in this shop", or "no playing around with that
Web
>server stuff".  Why are there legions of programmers who have never seen
>embedded SQL?  Why is ILE still called "the new stuff"?
>
>Where do you think these young IT pros are going to go?

    If you want a job where they use the latest technology, then get 
one.  What's the problem?  Corporations don't exist for the sole 
purpose of offering you an opportunity to play with the latest toys. 
If you are really hearing things like "ILE is a no-no in this shop", 
your answer should be "thanks for the opportunity, but I don't think 
I'd be a good fit here".

    Your other comments could easily be construed as ageist, but I'll 
be charitable and say that they just sound confused.

    Regards,

    - Lou Forlini
      Software Engineer
      System Support Products, Inc.