I will stop calling it an AS/400 when ...
"Silverlake" was a turning point at the time.
The AS/400 was introduced as a new machine combining the best of the S/36,
S38 and new features.
Subsequent releases of rebadged, renamed, machines haven't been announced
defining it differently to an AS/400.
Norm Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tom Liotta
Sent: Saturday, 7 February 2009 9:19 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: I will stop calling it an AS/400 when . . . [ thiscondition is
met ]
rob wrote:
Why did you start calling it an AS/400 and not a S/38?
At the time, I didn't really know better.
I barely recall the articles and speculation about this secretive
"Silverlake" thing that was going to take over where the S/38/36
left off. Yet, I do indeed recall that they happened. They got me
excited with anticipation. The S/38 had already shaken up my image
of what IBM was up to for the future.
There really wasn't a huge need for IBM to do much marketing.
Writers for Computerworld and others kept it in mind. Mags like
System/36/38 kept a buzz going within the community.
It feels like we were _prepared_ for a change and prepared for a new
name.
Since then...
I have an old article that I saved; I think from Midrange Systems
magazine. It was written when the RISC models were being developed
and it argued that a name change away from "AS/400" was called for.
New boxes -- new name.
Well, we all know that the name change came much later, and maybe it
was too late. Now, I have to work consciously to use the appropriate
name for whatever box I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure they will
always be "AS/400s" in my mind.
I kept the article in hopes of having a chuckle over it some day
with the author -- Al Barsa.
Tom Liotta
midrange.com
