2021 Almost Done, Happy Holidays From IT Jungle To Everyone
December 15, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan
As far as I can tell, it is really March 654th, 2020 as we bring the 31st volume of The Four Hundred to a close here in what people are still calling 2021 for nostalgia’s sake. We are grateful to have served another year for the IBM i community, and we look forward not only to a well-deserved rest but also to building up some reserves of energy during the holiday season to take on 2022.
By all indications, it looks like 2022 will be an interesting year for the Power Systems platform, with entry and midrange Power10 machines coming to market – machines that are suitable for the vast majority of the 120,000 or so IBM i customers in the world. We have been waiting a long time for these innovative systems to come into the field, and we hope that Big Blue brings more than hardware innovation with these machines, but also introduces some of the technologies that are necessary to make them more relevant to the base of customers who are, for various reasons, stuck on older machines and older operating systems and older databases and older application software. There will never be a better chance that the 2022 Power10 launches to do something more comprehensive to truly move the base forward.
No matter what happens – or doesn’t happen – you can count on The Four Hundred to advocate for your needs and to explain your options to you on the technology front. This has been our commitment to you for more than three decades, and despite the many changes we have had to cope with in recent years, we are fervent about providing the tactical, strategic, and technical advice that we have always done for the OS/400 and IBM i platform. (And, I suppose for a few years, what was called the i5/OS platform. . . . <wink>)
On a personal front, I would like to thank the good people who I work side by side with at IT Jungle, who know what to do and somehow manage to get it all done, week in and week out. There has never been a better team, and I am honored that they still are with me at this publication that I started with Hesh Wiener, my mentor, back in July 1989. It is amazing to me that we are all still doing this, and may it continue for many years to come.
With that, I would like to thank our advertisers and our content sponsors for the support that they gave us in 2020, including the parts that were actually in 2021. (Yes, I know it is 2021. Maybe.) Without their continual and predictable support, it would be impossible to put together 83 editions of this newsletter a year. There just is not a better group of vendors, who understand the value that an independent publication brings to a market, anywhere on Earth. Believe me, as a publisher and editor in other realms, and one who is always looking for a new place to learn and writer and earn my bread, I know. We are humbled and thankful.
May you all have a joyous holiday season, may you and yours enjoy health and happiness despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic, and may we all have a safe and prosperous New Year. We will see you all back here at IT Jungle in January!
