My rant about HP "dumping" MPE is a direct reference to the 11/14 decision,
which effectively puts an end to 3 decades of HP3000 history. MPE in itself
won't be "dumped", like in "dumpster". It has to retain some control, under
some organization's aegis. I'd welcome that organization to be OpenMPE, Inc.
But, short of an outside organization, I agree that HP won't release MPE.

In a nutshell, you are right. HP is not dumping MPE. It is just dumping the
3000.

Christian

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Envoyé : jeudi 4 septembre 2003 16:36
> À : [log in to unmask]
> Cc : Christian Lheureux; [log in to unmask]
> Objet : Re: [HP3000-L] OT: (becoming OT, at least) RE: MPE-IMAGE
> marketing
>
>
> Unfortunately I have to disagree with HP "dumping" MPE...
>
> I see it as never happening. I think we have been lulled into
> a pipe dream
> for an emulator for future users. Hp will not give it up
>
> My opinion only
> > Hi Alfredo !
> >
> > So you wrote :
> >
> > > Funny you should mention this.  I just spoke with a friend
> > > who works at a major university (as in "billions of dollars
> > > of endowment", lots of Nobel Prize winners, and so on).
> > >
> > > Their hp3000 machines ARE their endowment cash registers and
> > > they do a first-rate job.  The university certainly uses
> > > all kinds of OTHER machines for all kinds of OTHER purposes.
> > > But what do they use for what really counts (i.e., for the
> > > absolutely most reliable gatekeeping in terms of their MONEY)?
> > > The hp3000 running MPE-IMAGE, of course :-)
> >
> > This is certainly today's reliable machine for a
> could-not-be-more strategic
> > need, the one driving the money flow. But what about tomorrow ?
> >
> > > And this is just today's conversation.  I get exactly the
> > > same "feedback" (to use HP's "management" term :-) all the
> > > time.
> >
> > Most of my customers still on MPE (number dwindling on a
> weekly basis - sigh
> > ...) say exactly the same. The Wind@ws boxes merely sputter
> along, whereas
>
> > the MPE server gently purrs, with hardly a hiccup, and Un!x
> is somewhere
> > in-between.
> >
> >
> > > Many hp3000 machines are not on maintenance.
> >
> > Mine are not, and they have never been. I've stockpiled
> enough parts to get
> > them running well into this century. As far as software
> maintenance is
> > concerned, I rely on the DSPP for software updates and on
> my friends at
> > HP3000-L and other lists when I'm in trouble. The cynical
> guy deep inside me
> > says the HP Response Center people should do the same, for a better
> > first-line support quality.
> >
> > > Many are, but
> > > not on HP's maintenance plans.  Still many others are under
> > > HP maintenance.  The fact that (most of them) keep on
> > > trucking under circumstances that would drive lesser machines
> > > to the dumpster IS an extremely powerful statement.
> >
> > Unfortunately, it's not. The 3000's inherent reliability is
> so high it's
> > very hard to get an improvement. When you've reached the Everest of
> > reliability, it's hard to get anywhere higher, isn't it ?
> >
>
> > Now, HP has dumped the 3000. So what's the relevance of an
> HP reliability ?
> > Nil. Sorry to be blunt but, short of an eleventh-hour
> miracle that no one
> > sees coming, MPE is dead for HP's purposes. For an MPE
> future, count on
> > OpenMPE, Inc. rather than on HP. When it comes,the inherent hardware
> > reliability of an emulator will be that of the underlying
> hardware/OS
> > platform, most likely Intel + Linux.
> >
> > > Be it as it may:
> > >
> > > This EXTREMELY POWERFUL statement could be used for an
> > > unbelievable marketing campaign by HP.  Unfortunately, the
> > > business schools that HP marketing folks attended seem to
> > > have drilled -- unbelievably effectively and powerfully --
> > > the belief that this statement is "bad".
> >
> > These marketing geeks are indeed quite smart. They've
> convinced THE WHOLE
> > WORLD that they need new bells and whistles every now and
> then. Think of
> > this : would you do, these days, without multiple windows ?
> without sound ?
> > without color ? without a mouse ? Well, thats' where MPE
> is, in terms of
>
> > human interface. Where a mid-tech product like, say, a car
> experiences a
> > complete technological revolution every 2 decades or so, a
> hi-tech product
> > like a computer experiences the same overhaul every, say, 3
> years. Because
> > we don't want to do without our neighbor's bells and
> whistles. Because we've
> > been told by the marketing geeks that it's good. Because,
> ultimately, it
> > keeps a whole industry (and that certainly includes you and
> I, my dear
> > Alfredo) in business.
> >
> > Cynical ? Perhaps. A market insuperable reality ? Certainly.
> >
> > > Go figure.
> >
> > See above for details.
> >
> > Anyway, I would never shoot point-blank on business school
> graduates without
> > carefully thinking before. After all, I may shoot myself.
> >
> > Christian
> >
> > * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
> > * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
>

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