Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!husc6!seismo!nbires!hao!noao!mcdsun!sunburn!gtx!edge!doug
From: doug@edge.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: IBM's new System 2 Personal Computers
Message-ID: <632@edge.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 10-Apr-87 13:35:56 EST
Article-I.D.: edge.632
Posted: Fri Apr 10 13:35:56 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Apr-87 19:56:47 EST
References: <8704052015.AA09396@cory.Berkeley.EDU> <516@umnd-cs.D.UMN.EDU>
Organization: Edge Computer Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ
Lines: 34

> ... None of their new
> machines are "clone smashers", especially their top-of-the-line micro, which
> is way overpriced.

After reading through almost a dozen different news reports on the System/2,
it's clear that "clone smashing" was *not* IBM's intent.

A lot of people think that IBM is somehow all-powerful in the computer biz,
but it ain't so.  In the mid-60's, CDC drove IBM almost completely out of
the scientific-computer market and followed it up with a lawsuit that IBM
settled out-of-court very expensively.  DEC virtually created the "engineering"
computer market, and IBM has failed to make a noticeable dent despite
numerous efforts (Apollo and Sun have done much better than IBM).  IBM made
two assaults on the "home" computer market (the original PC was a 16K, no-disk,
cassette-based machine with BASIC in ROM, and then the PC-jr).  Commodore came
out the clear winner both times.

Now IBM has lost again, and is involved in a "strategic retrenchment".  They
have, with System/2, abandoned the small-business and personal-productivity
computer markets.  The new machines are unquestionably aimed at IBM's most
loyal customers: the Fortune 500.

The big attraction is that IBM claims that these new computers will be able
to communicate with IBM mainframes "without seams" (no upload/download steps).
These "PCs" won't be sold as stand-alone computers; they're actually a new
breed of super-intelligent terminals.  (They do have a compatibility mode
which allows them to run PC-DOS programs.)

Personally, I think IBM's right.  They can't compete in the small-business
market.  And they can virtually dominate the Fortune 500 market if their PCs
can communicate easily with IBM mainframes, because the Fortune 500 has a
*lot* of IBM mainframes installed.

-- Doug Pardee -- Edge Computer Corp. -- Scottsdale, Arizona