EDITORIAL PAGE


WAS ZACHMANN RIGHT?

I've tried to give subtle suggestions to IBM over the years for improving customer service, all to no avail. I guess its time to take off the kid gloves and hit them over the head with a 2 X 4.

Let's begin by looking at some indicators as to what is going on with OS/2 these days...

  1. As you review this issue of OS/2 CONNECT, you'll notice that we've ceased publishing the OS/2 Priority Listing (an itemized listing of user suggestions for product improvements). Why did we drop the list? Because IBM does not care. IBM chose to refuse comment on the list.

  2. OS/2 publications have been slowly dying off. Why? Because IBM does not care. Print magazines such as OS/2 MAGAZINE, OS/2 DEVELOPER, OS/2 PROFESSIONAL, and OS/2 MAGAZINE have all disappeared, leaving only OS/2 related e-zines which are also showing signs of strain. Further, OS/2 books have evaporated from book shelves and nothing new is in the pipeline.

  3. Attendance at OS/2 user group meetings have dwindled. Why? Because IBM does not care. If they cared, there would have been an aggressive and concerted campaign to support the groups. Case in point: OS/2 users would have been delighted to participate in a celebration of OS/2's 10th anniversary last April. Instead, there is a half-hearted attempt to organize a 10th anniversary celebration later this year; too little-too late. Let us also not forget the pitiful support IBM has extended to Team OS/2 over the past two years. For some reason, IBM does not seem to understand that organizations such as user groups and Team OS/2 are invaluable in terms of providing marketing and customer support. Isn't it amazing that events such as last year's "Connect the World with Merlin" and this year's WarpStock were all organized and run by customers with little vendor support?

  4. There has been little, if any, print advertising for OS/2 this year. Why? Because IBM does not care. They have openly stated that they are only interested in marketing OS/2 at the "enterprise" level, and that the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) users are on their own. (I wonder if IBM realizes that it is the SOHO users that are running the user groups?)

  5. OS/2 vendors, such as SPG ColorWorks, have been changing allegiances, not because they want to, but because they have to in order to survive. Why? Because IBM doesn't care. If they did, IBM would be pushing their own product harder in the press and third-party vendors would ride their coattails. Now, IBM is basically telling everyone to program in Java and forget about native OS/2 support. This is a little hard to swallow if you are a vendor who invested heavily in OS/2 (including yours truly).
Writer Will Zachmann created a furor last year when he commented that he didn't think IBM really cared about the future of OS/2. Actions speak louder than words which leads me to believe that Zachmann was right after all. Don't misunderstand me: I still ardently believe in OS/2 as a product. However, like many of you, I believe that IBM's marketing of OS/2 is horrific. This is particularly painful for me to say as an IBM shareholder.

IBM will continue to reorganize the Personal Software Products (PSP) division in a never-ending search for the perfect management team. I call this the "re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" phenomenon. While they continue to restructure the organization, the ship is sinking. Its time to either patch the hole or man the life boats. As I see it, IBM has three options:

  1. Maintain the status quo - thereby allowing OS/2 to quietly disappear into obscurity. Maybe this is what IBM really wants; get everything converted to Java then push everyone over to Unix.

  2. Sell OS/2 to a separate company (either an independent or a "spin-off") - unfortunately, IBM cannot do this due to their commitment to "enterprise" customers, particularly banks who have invested heavily in OS/2.

  3. Get off their ass and market their products. Unfortunately, this is unlikely since they have demonstrated they don't know how to market an exceptional product like OS/2.
For some odd reason IBM is intimidated by Microsoft (wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that Bill Gates was blackmailing IBM with some naked photos of key IBM executives?)

What IBM doesn't understand is that Microsoft is beatable! OS/2 is far and away a superior platform. The mindshare of the public could be won back with a little effort (I can't begin to tell you the number of people I've met who have regretted their decision to go to Windows). A little effort to convince the press of the product's viability would work wonders (why not take a page from the Microsoft marketing manual on how to handle the press). Also, someone has to get some control over the loose canons within IBM itself, such as the executives in the PC Company who refuse to preload OS/2 on their computers. Just good, old-fashioned marketing hustle is all that is required.

I don't have all the answers, but on behalf of the millions of frustrated OS/2 users out there: IBM please do something! We, as loyal and dedicated OS/2 users, care about the product. Does IBM?

- Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT

Copyright © MBA 1997