OK, Jerry, I was using irony which you took (and perhaps others) as fact. I am sorry for your understandable sensitivity in this matter and offer my
sincere apologies. 

A cc to the 3000-l to let you all know my feelings: I am appalled at hp's decisio.

YT, JP

John M Penney
Systems Programmer / Administration
Production Services
Information Services Department
Pierce County
Tacoma, WA 
253-798-6215
[log in to unmask]

>>> Jerry Fochtman <[log in to unmask]> 11/15/01 09:49AM >>>
Thanks John, for your feedback.  Unfortunately your message, as it
was phrased, did come across as though we were pleased with the
chain of events, especially with the 'ecstatic' followed by the
remark of making '$0 sales'.   So even after re-reading it several
times I could see no other possibly interpretation other than us
(Bradmark) being happy about the event and turning away from
trying to sell product in this market.  Based upon a note that
Mark Klein sent, apparently I was not the only one that saw a
different meaning in your comments that perhaps what you may
have intended.

During these difficult times we all need to be careful and
think about what we might say or how it is said least we let
the emotions we all have cause us to destroy what we all
cherish about this community.

FYI...someplace on a DAT I still have a bunch of those old
2000 library programs... :-)


At 08:22 AM 11/15/01 -0800, you wrote:
>Jerry:
>
>In no way, shape or form was I taking any kind of pot shot at you or 
>Bradmark. I do not see how my comments could be construed as such in any event.
>
>I've worked with HP since the 2000 in '72 and the 3000 since '79 and am 
>disappointed by how this set of events has come about.
>
>Just thought I'd share...........
>
>John M Penney
>Systems Programmer / Administration
>Production Services
>Information Services Department
>Pierce County
>Tacoma, WA
>253-798-6215
>[log in to unmask] 
>
> >>> Jerry Fochtman <[log in to unmask]> 11/15/01 06:35AM >>>
>At 02:09 PM 11/14/01 -0800, John Penney wrote:
> >And from our friends at Bradmark:
>
>/snip my published quote
>
> >These guys must be ecstatic:
>
>Like a number of other statements people have made during this
>uncertain time, nothing could be further from the truth.  Like many
>other long-time HP3000 partners, this decision hit us pretty hard
>as well.  Only we, like many other long-time vendors, were given
>some advance notice under non-disclosure.  HP chose to do this
>with their partners so we could be prepared to respond to our
>customers concerns when the public announcement was made.
>
>During the course of discussions leading up to the announcement,
>we decided to give to our HP3000 customers a *free* software
>license for a comparable database tool we have on what ever platform
>they migrate to, whether it is UNIX-based or a Windows server.
>There will be others that will work to sell products and to a
>degree, take advantage of this user-base migration.  On the
>other hand, we recognized the impact this would have on our
>long-standing customers and felt we could best help them by
>showing our appreciation and support by giving them a comparable
>database tool we have for no charge.  Our hope is those
>HP customers that are considering additional purchases or
>upgrades will indeed continue with those plans, knowing that
>at least some of their investment will carry forward to other
>platforms as they make their transition over the next 5+ years.
>And for those HP3000 users that will stick around beyond the
>next 5 years, we'll also be here to support you.  Heck, I'll
>need the work as I'll have 3, possibly 4 kids in college by
>then!
>
>On a personal note, there are but a few besides myself on this
>list that have as much time logged onto an HP3000 over 28+ years
>of experience. I suffered through the early HP3000 Pre-CX/CX
>days until a more stable MPE-C operating system came out.  The
>rest, they say, is history.  It was because of this dedication
>and commitment that HP showed 'to make it right' for the customer
>that impressed me.  I've even changed companies, turning down a
>promising career on other technology so I could remain a part of
>this community.  Its this same 'make it right' attitude that the
>folks at HP-CSY still demonstrate today even when arriving at a
>difficult conclusion, so the users can plan and implement a
>successful migration instead of having to quickly react to such
>a significant change.  No other vendor in this industry has given
>their users a 5-year notice.
>
>But enough of all this, my 'make' job is done and I've got to get
>back to my testing of some new changes and enhancements that our
>customers need...
>
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