Amid all HP’s brand-waving of the first week of December, Fiorina skipped a chance to get specific about the HP 3000 during a conference hosted by BusinessWeek. The HP CEO was one of the keynote speakers at the BusinessWeek Conference on the Digital Economy, an event which HP helps sponsor. When a customer from the State of California asked if Fiorina had thought through the proprietary systems line yet,“and is HP going to continue supporting and enhancing the 3000 line?” Fiorina’s answer was “yes, and yes.” But her remarks to elaborate skipped a chance for her first public mention of MPE. She got close, in saying that “there are companies we compete against that want you to believe this is about the operating system. The reality is that it’s not. We are dedicated to ongoing support and accelerating investment in Unix systems, as well as NT systems, as well now as Linux.”

Tea-leaf readers might be disappointed in that reply, noting the absence of the magic three letters which drive the heart of their 3000s. But we believe they should remember that Fiorina’s answer to the question was yes. Perhaps the next time a customer asks a question about enhancing the HP 3000, Fiorina’s reply will include three more letters other than “Yes” — like the word “MPE,” when she’s talking about operating systems. Knowing what we know about how the 3000 business is run at HP, CSY general manager Winston Prather’s remarks about enhancement carry a lot more impact on the systems’ future. We’ll have his comments about how he’s “tired of being defensive about the 3000” in our next issue.