Grex Micros Conference

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Grex Micros Item 92: the future of big blue
Entered by matts on Tue Jun 7 21:43:08 UTC 1994:

what will happen to IBM?  Will it die.  I realize that they make
other products, but how many, and can it make up for the lackluster 
ibm market?

10 responses total.

#1 of 10 by srw on Wed Jun 8 00:14:45 1994:

Rumors of the death of the mainframe are greatly exaggerated.

#2 of 10 by bdp on Thu Jun 9 17:18:13 1994:

I think the mainframe is basically dead.  However, I don't think IBM is...
IBM has a *very* diverse product line, and one of the best R&D dept's in the
industry.  In a way, they actually have a better chance of survival than, say,
Microsoft, which has a very limited product line.

#3 of 10 by srw on Fri Jun 10 02:23:31 1994:

Yes, companies are downsizing away from mainframes. Mainframe pricing is
showing erosion because of this (but not yet to the extent PCs have).
However, many companies are backing away from or slowing their downsizing
plans. They have discovered that the true cost of a distributed LAN network
is not in the cost of the hardware, but in the cost of support structures.
The mainframe will be with us for quite a while, I think.
Eventually it will die, but I think your statement is premature.

Your comments about IBM are right on.

#4 of 10 by curby on Mon Jun 13 21:51:29 1994:

They will be around forever!  There is always going to be a need for the
power of there RS6K machines...

#5 of 10 by rogue on Tue Jun 28 03:29:44 1994:

#2: Come on. Microsoft is working on every software idea on the face of the
    earth. If "software" is a limited product line, then you and I have
    very different ideas of "product line". 

    Microsoft is going to be absolutely *HUGE* in 5 to 20 years whether you
    like it or not. 

    I do think IBM will be around, but Microsoft's power must not be
    underestimated.

#6 of 10 by bdp on Sat Jul 16 12:44:03 1994:

"Windows Software," which is their bread & butter, is NOT a diverse product
line, even if they do ship millions of units.  It's impossible to name more
than a hundred applications (I'm having trouble naming 25!) that they
manufacture in this category.  On the other hand, IBM makes every type of
hardware, and every type of software, for every platform imaginable.
Microsoft has always been good at riding (creating?) the current popular 
trend.  If that were to ever stop, they'd have serious problems.

#7 of 10 by awijaya on Sat Aug 16 15:27:54 1997:

Hello this is a nice debate topic. I buy IBM atUS$ 40 and sell it at 160.
But today MS market cap is greater than IBM. (Although IBM say
they grow another MS last year). IBM will be around lik3e HP.
Their cheapest mainframe is PC/390 at US$ 30 K.reside inside PC 330.
There is a big question about the CHRP/PREP/PowerPC platform.
The mainframe emulator running on quad SMP PC can outrun most
low range mainframes. IMO the basic question is I/O bandwidth.
But with new I2O bus, PC will increase their bandwidth.
Regards ( AW)

#8 of 10 by srw on Sat Sep 27 04:57:57 1997:

At current prices, IBM looks more attractive to me than MSFT.
(disclaimer: I already own some)

IBM does a lot of things. Did you spot their announcement of their new 
CMOS 7S technology last week?

http://www.ibm.com/News/1997/09/ls9709222.html

#9 of 10 by no1spam on Sun Sep 28 11:08:26 1997:

IMO TI have better technology using Timeline projects.
They can pack more than 100 million transistor 
inside 1 chip. (equivalent to 20 Pentium II )
Another interesting development is Super conductor 
with 1 or multi GHz speed. For MCM perhaps Pallet
Technology is the most advance today.
(Multi chip module).

#10 of 10 by arthurp on Mon Sep 29 04:24:17 1997:

That number was gates not transistors.  There are going to be at least 2
transistors per gate in a CMOS device.  So they were talkinga about 300
million transistors per chip.  Neat stuff.

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