Subject: sadness

One year ago we decided to junk our HP3000 and go with “modern” technology. We bought 2 HP 9000s and Oracle applications software. I always suspected that the HP 3000 was the best computer made. Now I’m sure of it. We’ve spent millions for a system that barely works... All I can say is that Unix sucks, Oracle really sucks and that I’m sorry that we no longer can use Adager.

I was very touched by these heart-felt comments. This is a message from hell asking for help. The fact that the message came on New Year’s Eve adds to the pathos.

I hope something good comes out of this tragedy. How about making sure that everyone in the world becomes aware of the meaning of this message? Yes, I know that some sensibilities might be offended, but we need a brave person who will act as the small child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Hewlett-Packard’s 3000 division has a golden opportunity to exploit the obvious strengths of the HP 3000. They need to get the word out to potential new customers and — most importantly — to potential new developers. Hopefully, HP will not squander the occasion.

What improvement to IMAGE can have the greatest impact for customers in the coming year?

On-line repacking of detail datasets. Denys Beauchemin has proposed an interesting method and Fred White has been going through it with a fine-toothed comb. Fred’s conclusion is that HP must get involved by providing a low-level procedure that database-tool suppliers can then invoke to provide the required functionality.