I see from their annual report ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/annualreport/2006/2006_ibm_annual.pdf that System z hardware revenue is up 7.8% with an 11% increase in MIPS shipped. Given that a z9 is more than 11% bigger than a z990, I guess that means that they sold fewer mainframes than in 2005. Even so, I think that the shareholders *do* care about the mainframe.
If they were smart, they'd be asking why they can't sell more mainframes and why they can only get an 11% increase in MIPS in a year. It's better than the year before (7%) but still pretty pitiful. What would happen if IBM were to take action to let them sell 50% more MIPS every year? I believe that there would be plenty if demand for that to happen if people didn't think there was good reason to move away from the mainframe. I believe that there are now two reasons. The traditional one is the *perception* that mainframe software is too expensive. Now there is another reason, the *perception* that IBM is willing to let the mainframe die, as evidenced by making life more difficult for the smallest developers. -- Tom Marchant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
