At 11:28 AM 08/14/00, John Clogg wrote:

>The movement of many former MPE shops to Unix over the last several years
>was not done because of the need for some functionality that MPE lacked,
>in many cases.  Rather it was a fear of investing in a "dying"
>platform.  After all, the trade press inundated everyone with the notion
>that (1) everyone was going to open systems, (2) "open" means "Unix", and
>(3) "proprietary" is a bad word.  Since the press is so powerful a force
>in creating such perceptions, maybe letters to editors are the best
>approach.  Again, I submit that HP could do a lot to influence the press
>and the public by promoting MPE as a living, vital OS.

I just learned this morning from a sometime client of mine, a very large
company with many 3000s, that their 3Ks are on the way out over the next
3-5 years, and the systems used by a company they recently acquired will be
used instead.  I don't yet know why this decision was made, or what the new
systems are, but it does show that the policy of selling into the installed
base is simply death by attrition.


Tom Brandt
Northtech Systems, Inc.
http://www.northtech.com