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This
presentation is about the AS/400’s chance of survival while being treated as
a stepchild under the care of its natural mother, corporate IBM. It is
based on the book, and therefore, the presentation cannot go as deeply into
the issues as the book does. However, the presentation has been built to
capture the essence of the “AS/400 problem” and to examine a number of
solutions. Along the way, we’ll look at the origins of the AS/400 and why
it has never been the favorite of the IBM corporate set.
The book and the presentation are very positive on the AS/400 (I know the
new boxes are called iSeries.) and its potential role in the future of IT.
However, the book and the presentation are not as positive on the management
team who are currently seem to be positioning the OS/400 machine for a march
to oblivion.
I
do not expect my former employer to look favorably on this book or this
presentation. However, nothing in life worth having is easy. One day, when
I am old enough to have my own AS/400, I’d like it to be an option. I’d
like it to survive. If a few IBM managers get roughed up along the way so
that we can continue using the finest box that human beings have ever
conceived, then so be it.
Joe McDonald, Publisher of Lets Go Publish sees the book as more than a
treatise on the AS/400 product line. “Among other things, this new book is
a history lesson on IBM, written from an insider’s point of view. Whether
you care one iota about the future of the AS/400 as a product or not, this
book is very compelling in its depiction of IBM as a company trapped by its
own heritage. It is a marvelous story and from the point of view of a
non-technical person, I can assure the reader that you do not have to be a
technology guru to enjoy this book. I could not put it down once I began
reading it.”
Mr. Kelly wrote this book to make the AS/400
and iSeries constituency think more carefully through its relationship with
IBM and hopefully cause the AS/400 community to demand more from Big Blue.
He also urges IBM to commence a serious self-examination and learn what is
necessary to get back on friendly terms with its customers.
Table of Contents at
a Glance
Chapter
1 The Little Lab That
Could...........................................................................................
1
Chapter 2 Being
There!................................................................................................................
19
Chapter 3 Who’s on
First?............................................................................................................
31
Chapter 4 System/3 to System/38 to
AS/400...............................................................................
39
Chapter 5 It’s A Beautiful Day In the
Neighborhood?..............................................................
49
Chapter 6 The All Everything
Computer....................................................................................
61
Chapter 7 Bill Gates, Steven Jobs, and Otto
Robinson............................................................ 79
Chapter 8 No Risk with
RISC.....................................................................................................
91
Chapter 9 MADGIC! MADGIC! MADGIC!..........................................................................
101
Chapter 10 Some Servers Are More
Equal...............................................................................
111
Chapter 11 Where Does the AS/400
Fit?...................................................................................
125
Chapter 12 AS/400 Is Not a Legacy
System..............................................................................
131
Chapter 13 The Future System (FS)
Project..............................................................................
135
Chapter 14 The Pacific
Project...................................................................................................
143
Chapter 15 The Fort Knox
Project.............................................................................................
159
Chapter 16 The Silverlake
Project.............................................................................................
171
Chapter 17 The Re-branding of the AS/400 as the iSeries.......................................................
179
Chapter 18 The On Demand Computing
Project.......................................................................
183
Chapter 19 The Rise of the Software
Division..........................................................................
197
Chapter 20 Gerstner’s Baby: IBM Global
Services!...............................................................
211
Chapter 21 The Cost of AS/400
Ownership...............................................................................
221
Chapter 22 Marketing
101.........................................................................................................
229
Chapter 23 It’s the Marketing,
IBM!........................................................................................
247
Chapter 24 Homogenization Shows No
Cream..........................................................................
265
Chapter 25 The Dead Goose That Once Laid Golden
Eggs..................................................... 281
Chapter 26 Keep Your Java; We’ll Take
Cof0fee!...................................................................
301
Chapter 27 Unix, Linux, &
IBM.................................................................................................
309
Chapter 28 Client Server and the
Internet.................................................................................
317
Chapter 29 The Birth and Death of IBM Word
Processing...................................................... 325
Chapter 30 It’s No Longer Watson’s
IBM................................................................................
335
Chapter 31 The IBM Suggestion Box Is
Closed.......................................................................
349
Chapter 32 The Integrated AS/400 is
Dying!.............................................................................
359
Chapter 33 Suggestions for
Improvement..................................................................................
373
Chapter 34 A Town Without
GUI...............................................................................................
389
Chapter 35 Teach Me! Teach Me! Teach
Me!.......................................................................
405
Chapter 36 No Stork and No Baby
AS/400!..............................................................................
421
Chapter 37 Get Out of the PC
Business!...................................................................................
429
Chapter 38 Fort Knox II – The New IBM eServer...................................................................
435
Chapter 39 Time For New Management At
IBM.....................................................................
439
Chapter 40 The Future of the
AS/400........................................................................................
457
Appendix A -- About the Book
Survey........................................................................................
471
Index.............................................................................................................................................
473
The list of Brian's current books
by LETS GO PUBLISH includes the following:
Getting Started with WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries
(Interactive) November, 2002 ... $79.00
The iSeries Pocket Developers' Guide December, 2002 .. $59.00
The iSeries Pocket Database Guide December, 2002 .. $59.00
The iSeries Pocket Query Guide January, 2003 .. $49.00 (Being
Printed Now!)
Getting Started with WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries
April, 2003 ... 600+ pages, $89.00
AS/400 Books authored by Brian and available from other publishers
include:
The AS/400, the Internet and Email ($99.00) -- circa 1997 by
Midrange Computing, - recently went out of print,
AS/400 Data Warehousing 2nd Edition ($79.00) circa 1998 --- still
popular and sold by MCPress
Getting Started with WebSphere, The How-To Guide for Setting Up iSeries
Web Application Servers ($59.00) - March, 2002 -- 29th Street Press
(News/400 - iSeries Network)
Four additional Lets Go Publish books, introduced in Late 2003 include
the following:
Migrating to WebSphere
Express for iSeries
The iSeries Pocket WebFacing Guide
Getting Started with WebSphere Express for iSeries
The WebFacing Design and Implementation Guide
There are eleven
books that are being distributed by iSeries Network (29th St. Press)
http://www.iseriesnetwork.com/str/books/UniqueAuthor.cfm?NextAuthor=112
and MCPress
http://www.mc-store.com/briankelly.html
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