Angus: The day the AS/400 was put to bed..

Today – Tuesday April 12th, 2016, IBM announced IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.2 TR4. It is a BIG day.

And, today, IBM removed the old brands from their IBM i home page.

What was on the page:

 

 

 

What is now on the page:

 

 

 

And next, of course, they will remove the references in the title that say: IBM i (Power Systems software including AS/400, iSeries, and System i)

 

However, this is a banner day. We can now reference the page, and show vendors, customers, and the community that IBM itself is stepping up to IBM i!

What is annoying is the vendors who are not paying attention. In a recent defense of their lazy use of AS/400. twitter user @RedbournSystems claimed (among other things) “..,but AS/400 is still the most common term people use to search out our services & our marketing campaigns has to reflect”.

Certainly, one must attract customers and prospects with a marketing campaign, but leading with a brand that is 16 years old is a little confusing. In 2016, marketing campaigns should include elegant use of SEO to attract those who think they are still living in the last century, and lead with the current and future branding of the platform.

And in this sales pitch “blog”, the vendor Tools4Ever have decided to go full blown backwards into the last century and appeal to the old and the outdated:

The “blog” starts with much eagerness: “The AS/400, currently part of the IBM Power systems lineup, is one of the most successful mid-range computers in history. They can be found in many businesses, schools and hospitals, handling everything from HR to finance to general business applications.”

This is sad, and quite hilarious. The AS/400 is currently part of what??? Oh, I see – a history lesson is needed. I did respond, but do not expect much – just the usual inane defense against moving into 2016 and stepping up to IBM i. Maybe, like a recent responder told me: “You’re just wrong. Anyway, I have a business to run. Take care.”.

For posterity, here is my reply:
“The day you posted this sales pitch, IBM dropped the brand AS/400 from its IBM i home page. http://www.ibm.com/systems/i.

AS/400 was replaced by iSeries in 2000 – 16 years ago. It still ran OS/400.
iSeries was replaced by System i in 2006 – 10 years ago. OS/400 was renamed i5/OS.

in 2008, IBM announced a NEW server platform called Power Systems, and brought the i5/OS operating system to this new platform and evolved it, rebranded it, and integrated it further with AiX and LiNUX – and called this new evolution of the OS by a new name – IBM i.

That was over 8 years ago.

Since then, several customers still use one of the old brands to refer to IBM i on Power Systems. Using those old brands is required for SEO, but you are not selling to customers who actually have AS/400 any more. It is time to step up to IBM i. Today is a good day to do it…”

Maybe you, too, can comment on this ridiculously outdated “blog”. The last time we ALL did it, the entire thing was removed – one small victory in the fight against obsolescence and lack of decent marketing skills in the 21st century!