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From: petolino@joe.Sun.COM (Joe Petolino)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: What they did to the 370 (was: Hidden Secrets of POWER Architecture)
Message-ID: <135104@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 2 May 90 16:24:10 GMT
References: <3475@trantor.harris-atd.com> <5768@scolex.sco.COM> <67O.029Ta1cv01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <318@necssd.NEC.COM> <21978@cfctech.cfc.com>
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>>When IBM built the 360, it was as expensive to build a 16K memory board as
>>a 32K memory board.  So, if your ordered a 16K memory board, you received
>>a 32K memory board with 16K shorted out.  If you subsequently ordered the
>>16K to 32K memory upgrade (for thousands of $$$), they sent a technician
>>out to clip the wire that shorted out the memory.  Instant upgrade!
>>-- 
>
>        I know for a fact that on the S/32 the price to upgrade from
>        9 MB of disk to 13 MB of disk bought a visit from your CE
>        who pulled a retaining pin that keep the head from reaching
>        part of the platter and reformatted your drive.

It's a not-too-closely-guarded secret that, at least in the mainframe
world, the individual machines of a 'product line' often are identical
except for the nameplate and a strategically-located jumper or two.  The
justification for this is that you can 'get your foot in the door' by
selling a degraded model to a customer at a reduced price; then, when
the customer eventually either has more money and/or needs more compute
power, you charge him for an upgrade.  A lot easier than designing and
supporting two different machines.

Perhaps the most amusing example of this strategy was (is?) the 'Amdahl
Accelerator', offered as an option only on leased machines.  With this
gadget, the customer could actually switch the jumper in and out by
turning a key on the console; he is then charged by the minute for the
time in 'accerated mode'!

The change required to do the upgrade is usually a lot more subtle than
just changing a crystal - that would be too easy for a customer to defeat.

-Joe