> a) Free market forces (and sales) dictate whether a company invests in any
> particular product.
>
>  b) Decisions based upon profit margins for a company in computing today
> _means_ survival.  Anything to the contrary means death.  The competition is
> fierce.
 
As I dispute the validity of both of these assumptions there seems little
point in dealing with the rest of the message.  "Free Market" is a term
so elastic as to have no meaning whatsoever.  What "Free Market" exists
for a company which invested massively in a technology based upon the
representations of the vendor only to see it destroyed by that vendor's
desire for short term gain?  What "Free Market" exists for a company
bound by government rules and regulaltions and liablity laws? What kind
of "Free Market" exists where a corporation's officers are rewarded on
the basis of share value and stock price, not product excellence? If
these types of "Free Market" forces had been at work when HP was just
getting into the computer business there wouldn't be a CSY division in HP
today.
 
Profit margins, and accountants pre-occupation with short term results,
is one of the contributing factors to the lack of strategic direction and
planning in many, if not most, publicly held corporations.  Competition
can be met and dealt with on many levels.  Being popular doesn't
necessarily equate with being profitable today and being unpopular
doesn't necessarily mean you are losing money ten years from now either.
Sometime you have to take the long view.  Sometime you have to deal with
short term pain for long term stability.  Sometimes a company is better
off setting its own course rather than having it set by others.  But this
presumes that the people making the decisions have something else in mind
besides turning in record results for this quarter.
 
As I have said many times before, HP is free to choose any path it wants.
I don't own stock and I am not an employee.  If HP were to disappear
tomorrow, life for me would go on much the same as yesterday.  On the
other hand, I am free to express my profound regret that a firm which has
such a magnificent product as the HP3000, supported by such capable and
dedicated employees and clients, can't seem to see the gold of iX for the
glitter of UX.
 
In the Unix world, HP will always be a "me-too" company.  Ditto for WinNT
and PC compatable workstations and computers.  If that is where they want
to be then nothing I can say or do can stop them.  I can still comment on
it though.
 
As for the HP3000, I always thought that the strongest reason for onwing
a 3000 was Image.  I guess that just goes to show you how far out of
touch with reality I am.
 
Regards,
--
James B. Byrne                  mailto:[log in to unmask]
Harte & Lyne Limited            http://www.harte-lyne.ca
Hamilton, Ontario               905-561-1241