From: jgay@digi.lonestar.org (john gay)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: "OLD" IBM alive and well at Dallas seminar
Date: 10 Apr 92 21:35:36 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: DNA Enterprises, Inc.

Well, I just back from the IBM Dallas seminar.  Apparently, the "new" IBM
is nowhere to be found in this neighborhood.  I haven't seen so many suits
since I don't know when - kind of makes EDS look like a casual clothing
store.

Summary of seminar:
40 minutes of the Comdex Lee R. demo - pretty good, interesting, showed how
easy, flexible, and powerful OS/2 is.  Most of this was geared toward power -
big numbers of simultaneous DOS programs, then big numbers of simultaneous
Windows programs, then big numbers of simultaneous OS/2 programs - stuff
like that.  Showed multi-media, network stuff, how 32-bit is faster than
16-bit.
~30 minutes of an IBM marketing geek showing more OS/2 demo stuff, more of
the WPS shell than Lee showed.
~20 minutes of an IBM fellow from Austin (Larry Lotts or something like that) -
general stuff about the future of stuff - pen based, voice and handwriting
recognition, multimedia.
~xx boring MIS clod from Frito-Lay, I think that he was going to talk about
why F-L chose OS/2, but I left after about 15 minutes of basic dead air
(as did a lot of people)

Summary of ISV's and others showing off OS/2:
can you say MIS.  The closest thing that they had to development was Microfocus
showing off their Cobol compiler/debugger for OS/2.
Participants that I can remember: Sears business center, Entre, Softsource,
Novell, Computer Land, Microfocus, Prodigy (showing prodigy running in a
DOS box on OS/2), MicroAge, etc.

Flame On.
Was there a clone machine in site:  NO.  Was not even mentioned that OS/2
could run on a clone.  Looked like IBM proprietary software made for
IBM proprietary hardware to me.  I was even given a sheet entitled
"Why the IBM PS/2 is a better buy than a clone".

IBM gave away about 5 shrink wrapped v2 sets (this to a room of 600 people),
no fun development tools, no neat programs, no upgrades, ...

Could you upgrade from 1.x at the show: NO (although IBM had lots of forms),
most of the IBMers were surprised that anyone would even have a 1.x version.
What?  Oh, try to see if reseller XXX is upgrading from previous versions.

Could you upgrade from Windows or DOS: Hell, yes.  All of the software resellers
said that you could go to their local stores and upgrade your windows.  No
waiting 4-6 weeks for you if you just want to fuck around with it, of course
if you actually were serious about OS/2 and had bought a previous version
you get fucked over again.

Am I pissed about this:  YES, I have been talking about OS/2 for months to
people at my office (I work for a small (17 people) consulting type company)
even as everyone has told me what a sucker I was.  ie: it want ship on time
(I don't consider this shipped), it runs only on IBM hardware (I certainly
haven't seen anything to contradict this), IBM doesn't care less about our
company because we don't have 10,000 employees (I believe it now).
Gee, now I get to put up with "So, where is this great 2.0 that you were
going to get."  After having talked people into delaying a project
decision until after they could look at 2.0 I guess I deserve it.

Basically, I came away from the seminar impressed with the technology, but
highly disappointed with IBM and felt like I wasted 4 hours.  I will still
send off for my upgrade, but will quite trying to talk our other engineers
into looking at it.  I don't even know if I will install it, given my current
attitude.  I imagine that we will continue to use Windows for pretty
development and Unix for serious stuff.

I understand that IBM is trying to get a footing into the Windows market,
but I think that they would be better served if they upgraded their believers
first and let us (well, now ya'll) help market.  When they come out with
2.1 who is IBM going to let upgrade in front of the 2.0 users (NeXT, Mac,
Amiga?).

For now, we (and our clients) want be using OS/2, especially since I am
not a Fortune 500 company or a Windows upgrader.  Maybe at the end of
the summer I'll try to take another look - might have even gotten my
upgrade by then...

At least with Microsoft we get the release code along with everyone else,
not a month later.

Flame Off.


It's been a learning experience.

Maybe IBM does stand for Intimidated By Microsoft...as Spencer suggested.



john gay.                      jgay@digi.lonestar.org

"Such a defacement [changing IBM's "THINK" signs to read "THINK OR THWIM"]
 would never actually occur at IBM, where spontaneous outbreaks of candid
 expression are scarcer than nose rings."
 - Dow Jones News, August 7, 1991
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc