Hello Friends:

New president of Computech Frank Zaccari noted on the list:

>There have been several articles and advertising campaigns lately in
>the "3000 media" about end of support, particularly on the 9x7.
>Users have been lead to believe that April 2002 is the next Y2K for
>the 9x7 and that they'd better jump ship soon or they'll fall off
>the edge of the earth.

It's entirely possible that the impact of 9x7s going off support
could be greater than Y2K, since Y2K was essentially a non-event.
Only a lot of diligent work by readers of this column made Y2K so
manageable. As one of the "3000 media" members, I sure am glad I
didn't suggest that HP support of these aging 3000s is the only
option. From the Online Extra column I just started writing for
3kworld, I offered this advice:

To be sure, there's still a lot of value left in owning such a
system. In the months to come, the NewsWire will carry an article
from an integration expert on keeping a 9x7 a viable choice, through
alternatives like third party support. Just because HP won't answer a
hardware call on a 9x7 in two years doesn't mean you can't call
somebody else.

The point I wanted to make is there's thousands of 9x7s out there,
and their fate could have a lot to say about the size of the 3000's
installed base within the next two years. It's good to know that
third parties will step in where HP fails to tred anymore. We hear
good things about such support options; some companies rate better
than HP, according to some of our readers' reports. It looks like
more diligent work, to line up new support options, may be required
to keep thousands of systems from being shut off. Or is everybody who
owns a 9x7 planning to upgrade?
--

Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
http://www.3000newswire.com
512.331.0075 -- [log in to unmask]