Re: I'm about to give up on "System i"

[Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

The AS/400 is part of the System i server family. But you cannot buy one
from IBM, so it is not a current System i server, but part of the family.
IBM will sell you a System i5 - which is what yours is - even if it has the
brand name on it.

And, whether you agree with the name or not - and there are a lot of people
who think they know better than IBM, "System i" is the name that IBM calls
it. While IBM's marketing has not shown its favoritism of the System i for
many years, there is no going back to iSeries or AS/400. What a marketing
snafu that would be.

As for i5/OS, my V5R4 system has the words "i5/OS Main Menu" on the MAIN
menu. Most of us have asked repeatedly to have this changed, and it seems
that it is - albeit slower than the declining sales percentage.

So, here is another idea. IBM has a slogan "i want an i". Why don't we just
stop farting around and call it an "i" - it rolls off the tongue better than
every other choice!

Trevor




On 9/25/07 9:21 AM, "Jones, John (US)" <John.Jones@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> IBM had it right with iSeries.  It notes it as a "Series" of systems so
> that prior and potential successive systems will also be members of the
> series.  It implicitly says that there are multiple generations of the
> platform and that you should probably expect more generations going
> forward.  A series is like that.  "System i" breaks that line of
> thinking.  It is singular and does not imply a past history or a future.
> Anything other than that this system is it; take it or leave it.
>
> There have been several people, I believe Trevor among them, that argue
> that a System i is not an AS/400.  If we are to allow AS/400s to be
> members of the System i club then that statement is false.
>
> Like I said, we have two systems here and I call them what they are
> labeled - one iSeries and one System i.  If I'm speaking collectively
> I'll refer to them as iSeries or Midrange.  I don't generally use System
> i as it is awkward and doesn't roll off the tongue (or keyboard) easily.
> I rarely revert to the last millennia and say "400".
>
>
> WRT the OS I do say i5/OS exclusively.  I haven't said OS/400 for some
> time.  Now, if only IBM would do the same and update the system to say
> i5/OS instead of OS/400.  In the little places, you know, like the main
> menu and the list of LPPs.