I got my first microcomputer in 1982, an Atari 800 with a real keyboard, a cassette tape backup (no hard drives yet), and a Basic coder. It attached to a black and white TV. After I got simple stuff going, I wrote a really stupid and clumsy address list report. Problem was that without a printer, it did little good except suck down a lot of evening and weekend time. I bought a used 150lb Centronics 101 printer with its new Centronics parallel port in addition to serial. Just getting it out of the car and up the stairs was an exercise unto itself. Using the printer and the computer, I was successfully able to actually “do” something. My mother’s high school class reunion was my first customer (for their mailing list). It helped that my mom and her friend were the reunion chairwomen. Anyway, that’s where this began. That was when I could actually make my computer do stuff, and printing was my interest. I explored the sending and receiving of data and manipulated the sequences of Hex code I sent to the printer.I monitored the serial port for its Hex responses. I gained a deep understanding that it takes to establish communications between CPU and printer..

Fast forward to today. The technology has heaped layer upon layer of function onto simple 8-bit byte code which runs printers at their most fundamental level. It is the understanding of the fundamentals which is commonly not taught, and the programmers, engineers, and designers, giving short shrift to “boring” old impact printers, seem to assume higher level language and interfaces in their interoperations.

It against this backdrop that I present the following extremely important analysis. The next release of operating system for the iSeries (AS/400), OS/400, will NOT SUPPORT SNA. Very few people understand how vast the ramifications will be for printing. IBM surely knows that many of the workarounds for printing over TCP/IP rely, at their most basic level, on an SNA link from the host. IBM’s solution? Advanced Function Printing (AFP) using Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS) for FLOW CONTROL over TCP/IP. Unless you happen to have seen this coming, you may not have IPDS implemented, and replacing all those impact printers (or dealing with Host Print Transform and PCL bandwidth and processing overhead) with new devices is going cause quite a lot of consternation. The whole concept of the “Black Hole of Printing” will become familiar to those who have puzzled at the lost jobs, strange outputs and flaky printer performance and network traffic they create.

I have been and will continue to offer solutions to these complexities. The effort and cost that so many people will expend on understanding the implications and potential solutions to this issue will be astounding. I’ll cut through the variables for you and help you through the most vexing challenges.

The
printer division, located in Lexington KY was one of the casualties,
when IBM “hatched” Lexmark in the early 1990’s. [They have since sold
off other manufacturing and engineering divisions such as Hard Drives
(Hitachi), Communications (Cisco), PC’s (Lenovo), etc.] One would have
assumed that IBM’s next generation of printers would be an IBM branded
machine made by Lexmark. (Made an ass of me) So, just as we all were
getting our arms around the idea of this new company, “Lexmark”, we
were surprised by IBM’s next move. They chose, oddly enough, to use
Fuji-Xerox as their manufacturer for their own next-generation
IBM-branded printers. It seemed strange that IBM would spin off its
venerable engineering and manufacturing infrastructure, only to go with
another vendor. (Did IBM and Lexmark have a tiff and decide to not see
each other anymore? Or did IBM walk because they couldn’t get a “deal”
from their offspring? ).

It was not without bumps, but the
dealer community embraced IBM’s moves while continuing to support
Lexmark’s products in competition. There were new product families
which were not evolutions of intellectual capital and improvement, but
were instead all different from IBM’s continuity developed in their
Lexington plant. We dealt with new documentation, technical
publications, error resolution, design and manufacturing execution,
etc. It was rough, but I enjoyed the challenge of the broader
offerings. We settled in for the long-run, and then…

IBM’s
next move? In the late 1990’s IBM unveiled its newest generation of
printers. And they were back to their Lexington roots. IBM, like many
others (Unisys, Decision Data, Genicom, etc.) were buying their
printers from Lexmark, but putting their own name on them. IBM and the
other manufacturers loved the idea that Lexmark’s technology made the
on-going supplies revenue proprietary. That is, you couldn’t use a
Lexmark toner in an IBM machine, even though both were the same engine.
IBM could sell printers, guarantee their supplies revenue, and not need
production, engineering, parts, or inventory. Good deal!

Now it
seems to have come around again, but this time, IBM is actually exiting
the printer market, at least directly. IBM has sold off the entire
printer division, forming this Ricoh/IBM joint venture called Infoprint
Solutions Company. I see the overall move as an excellent decision;
combining IBM’s vast technical support and maintenance assets, with
Ricoh’s engineering, manufacturing and printer-focused future. Clearly
there will be a learning curve but I expect it will be rather benign.

IBM’s
older Fuji-Xerox gear is still chugging along out there even seven
years later, so there is no reason to doubt that IBM’s newer
Lexmark-based printers will be running for a long time to come. So,
users will have to choose a path based on the questions: “Should we
continue with the technology pedigree of printer engines designed and
manufactured by Lexmark”, or “Should we move into the expanded Ricoh
line?”

Clearly, Ricoh has a strong incentive to turn over the
installed base of older equipment into their robust product line. Ricoh
has a very long and hard-earned history of success in the world market.
The relationship between IBM and Ricoh goes back quite a long way.
Ricoh has had a strong market penetration in the copier and fax markets
for many years, but had little “in” with the IT community. IBM employed
Ricoh’s engines and technology in their mid-range laser printers, and
probably negotiated to keep Ricoh from competing in the lower end
market. (Why is Canon Corporation not selling hard into the laser
printer market? Because that’s who makes HP’s lasers). But now Ricoh is
in control, and I would be amazed (no assumptions this time) if they
didn’t use their own technology and engines for the lower end of the
market in lieu of the Lexmark stuff today.

There is a strong
case to be made for uniformity in infrastructure including printers.
The installed base can be easily migrated to newer versions made and
supported by Lexmark. As I see it, there is more to gain in keeping
consistent with the existing installed base than from a lateral move
over to Ricoh’s gear, at least marginally. Ricoh’s products have
typically sold at higher price points because their sales model favors
lower supplies costs, which is certainly in the interests of long-term
users. But a flick of the pen and Lexmark’s toner supplies could easily
undercut that advantage.

So what to do now? Since Ricoh hasn’t
even announced any new products, keep buying Lexmark or IBM printers.
Once Ricoh’s products become available, wait it out a bit and see how
it performs. Not until problems arise can one adequately determine the
responsiveness and supportability of the new lines. I would think that
the users really don’t care all that much, as long as their gear is
working.

My philosophy is as it has always been: properly
maintained, the installed base should last for many years, and
uniformity over the long run is the least expensive and problematic
paradigm. Either way things pan out, we’ll be there to support you.

Say
you heard it here first. Intel has a major problem. They cannot make
their processors smaller (faster), so they are instead making them
multicore. That’s wonderful, but show me the plethora of software
applications, present or past, that can truly take advantage of
multithreading. The dual and quad core processors are still clocking at
less than 3Ghz. Watch out for the PowerPC. Interesting, don’t you
think, that Apple moved their Macintosh gear to Intel (away from
PowerPC) just as we reached this point? Also note, if the older
Macintosh gear ran natively on the last generation of PowerPC, then we
may consider that it will also run on the latest PowerPC. The latest
PowerPC will run iSeries frames. Do IBM and Apple have a venture to
replace PC’s with Mac’s for the enterprise? Let’s see: the Mac OS is a
UNIX variant. Linux is like UNIX. Linux runs on iSeries (and zSeries).
Macintosh on IBM?

It was quite funny: Many, if not most, of
us rarely see our colleagues in the regular course of business. It’s
even getting to the point that we don’t even talk anymore. Instant
messages and email have seen to that. So, there we were, at the ASCDI
meeting and after parties, hundreds of us, wandering around looking
down at the nametags in order to recognize our pals. I found the
furtive glances at my nametag humorous. Now that’s what it must be like
for women to have men looking at their cleavage! “Hey, fella, I’m up
here.”

I knew what to expect at the casinos, but was still
shocked to see the stacks of chips and wads of cash. The old slot
machines had a distinctive sound as the winner’s coins hit their
bucket. Now the machines spit out paper receipts instead, and the
machines play a recording of the “dink-dink-dink…” sound. I also
expected the prices to be high, but I was shocked at the usury that
went on. The snacks stand at the Cirque de Soleil charged $8.00 for a
bottle of water.

It was odd and quite tiring, being “on” for so
many events. There was the requisite amount of small talk, endless
cocktails, and not much deal-making that I could detect. Even so, it
was great to get away from the office for a long weekend.  Now that we
are back in our saddles, let’s get pumping!

I learned some
interesting things from Dr. Frank Soltis from IBM.  According to Dr.
Soltis, we have reached the point of diminishing returns on the current
crop of PC microprocessors.  The heat issues are forcing the designers
to move to multithreaded processors (Duo core, et. al.).  Many
applications cannot be run in multithreaded mode and will actually run
slower on the newest PC servers.  I suppose that there will be patches
and updates from the major software vendors to try to adapt to the
changes in basic design.  This is mentioned as a background to
elucidate the benefits of the IBM iSeries (AS/400, etc.) processors. 
Apparently, IBM’s processors don’t have the same heat problem as the
aforementioned processors from Intel and AMD.  Clock rates of over 6GHz
were in production, with specialized processors running over 10GHz, all
without any changes to applications.

Did you know that IBM’s
Power processors run all the latest game consoles?  It has been said
that these machines (Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox, etc.) are
supercomputers in disguise.  All that research and development has paid
off.  Also, did you know that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) chips in IBM
factories?  I suspect that means that we will probably see the
integration of AMD microprocessors in future frame releases.

“child”.
The
Lexmark machines upon which the current mid to low end devices are
based have interoperational issues in the newest generation which may
make maintenance complicated and expensive.The Ricoh machines are solid
performers with low cost of operation. Add in the vast support
infrastructure of the IBM PSD service that Ricoh will acquire, and we
have a comer.Ricoh has developed color capability over a long period,
and their market maturity and very low operational costs will find a
ready audience in time.

Lexmark’s attorneys probably were bruised by
this defeat, but apparently have used their acquired legal savvy to
concoct an even more frightening restriction in their current product
lines. Typically we dont discern problems or issues with products until
they have been installed long enough to emerge. This is a doozy. It
appears to apply to any of their OEM versions also (IBM, Unisys,
SourceTech, Dell, et. al.). The three main electronic components;
control panel, interconnect board and motherboard, all register
themselves with oneanother upon initial installation. When one of those
parts needs to be replaced, one is forced to buy an “un-registered” one
from the OEM – We can’t sell aftermarket parts without corrupting the
whole machine. This is a killer in the offing. And we cannot claim
damages until after we have sustained them, putting this loss into the
future sometime.

This is the citation from the Service Guide:”Warning: When replacing any one of the following components:
• Operator panel assembly (or upper front cover)
• System board assembly
• Interconnect card assembly

Only
replace one component at a time. Replace the required component and
perform a POR before replacing a second component listed above. If this
procedure is not followed, the printer will be rendered inoperable.
Never replace two or more of the components listed above without a POR
after installing each one or the printer will be rendered inoperable.
Warning:
Never install and remove components listed above as a method of
troubleshooting components.Once a component has been installed in a
printer, it can not be used in another printer. It must bereturned to
the manufacturer.”
I would assume that Lexmark understands patent
law, DCMA, and other ramifications of this move, but it will certainly
put a hurt on the myriad of parts resellers that currently trade in
used Lexmark and their OEM printers. Lexmark gains a very strong
position in its unique ability to offer maintenance agreements,
shutting out potential third party maintainers as well as competition
from other suppliers. It will have an enormous effect.We, therefore,
strongly suggest that users not upgrade to the the current IBM and
Lexmark printer products, but instead focus on perpetuating their
network uniformity with second generation offerings.I’m sure this is an
issue which will be debated and discussed further as it becomes more
cogent.

Lexmark’s new T644 is an awesome performer at under $900.  So long as you din’t mind a $300 toner cartridge!
Its funny, actually.  IBM has announced discontinuance of some Infoprint lasers almost immediately after announcing them.  No longer is there even a hint of
reliable supply.  How are fleets going to standardize in this crazy paradigm?TallyGenicom has a new printer that is well worth mentioning.  Their new 2265+ offers IPDS ETHERNET.  This is the only alternative (if you want to buy a new desktop printer) to IBM’s 4247 for internal IPDS Ethernet functionality.  It is fairly priced and looks like a nice solution.All of the sudden, bunches of IP 70’s (2770-001) printers have hit the scene, between these and the sporadic 2085’s coming to market, now is an excellent time for end users to acquire one.  Any department that pumps out a lot of paper will save serious money on these industrial machines. No matter how much I work with the IBM 4000 high speed lasers, I’m still amazed at them.  Over 1000 pages per minute?  Imagine the miles and miles of paper going and the total cost per page measured down to the thousandths of a cent!I know this is a short one, but I expect to be doing a major announcement regarding the new web site soon.  It really is a big deal to us.

Oh, and by the way, wish me happy 21st Anniversary on June 6 (Or after).
Sweet:
IBM 4519-001 Infoprint 1312
IBM 4528-n01 Infoprint 1352n new in sealed  $995
IBM 4528-001 Infoprint 1352 new sealed  $795
IBM 4526-001 Infoprint 1226 $1100 new sealed
IBM 4230-102 Printer $750
IBM 4230-4i3 Printer $950
IBM 4232-302 Printer $850
IBM 4247-A00 Printer new sealed $950
IBM 4400-004 Thermal $950
IBM 4400-008 Thermal $1900
Lexmark C752dn new sealed $1199
Lexmark C762n Factory Refurb, 1 year on-site warranty. $1399  (Regularly $
1799.00)
Lexmark Optra W810 $599
Lexmark Optra 4026-070 E+ $99
Lexmark Optra E 310 $179
Lexmark Optra E 312 $189
Lexmark Optra E 322 $229
Lexmark E323n new sealed $495
Lexmark Optra M410 $249
Lexmark Optra S1250 $275
Lexmark Optra S1625 $300
Lexmark Optra S2455 $450
Lexmark T522 $550
Lexmark Optra T612n $515
Lexmark Optra T614 $550
Lexmark T620n $825
Lexmark T630 $599
Lexmark 4227plus Printer (4227-002) $625
Dell M5200N Printer $550
Epson DFX5000 printer $550
Epson DFX8000 printer $550
CLI ET2000 Terminals $195

IBM announced some new additions to their high speed laser family.  “The IBM
4100 is the ultra-high-speed Infoprint 4100 production printer with the
Infoprint(R) POWER(TM) Controller. Targeted at printing environments where
throughput and printing speed are critical factors, these simplex and duplex
models allow printing at over 1400(1) letter-size (8.5 inch x 11 inch)
impressions-per-minute (ipm) for two-up duplex applications. Standard features
such as 600 dots per inch (dpi) input and output, a 19-inch (482.6 mm) print
width, a Customer Changeable Developer, tractorless operation, and the Infoprint
POWER controller technology push the envelope for the high-speed digital
printing industry. Optional features such as a speed switch, and high-speed
FICON and Gigabit Ethernet attachments allow for maximum productivity.”

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HS3  simplex printer up to 720 impressions per
minute in two – up.

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HD5 is the first engine of the HD5/6 high speed
duplex printing system.

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HD6 is the second engine of the HD5/6 high speed
duplex printing system.  HD6 contains the Infoprint POWER Controller and can be
used to print in simplex (without the HD5) or in dual simplex or duplex by
mating with the HD5. The high speed duplex printing system HD5/6 can print at up
to 1440 impressions per minute in two – up duplex.

I think I have received solicitations from 7 companies so far asking me to list
my inventory on their dealer-web sites.  Seems that there is an enormous overlap
betwwen them, with most dealers on most sites in order not to miss any
opportunity to list or source gear and/or parts.  The total cost to eblong to
all of them is potentially great, so it pays to be judicisous.  There are
probably good reasons for each one, but come on, how many do we need in this
industry?  I belong to four.  Who am I missing out there?

The newspapers are full of security issues.  Recent security breaches have
embarassed the largest of firms.  Most firms would rather not talk about their
“holes” but media attention has brought some of these breeches to the news on a
weekly basis.  SecureAgent has a patent on their encryption technique for
terminal sessions for mainframe data, which begs:  Why not for all company data?  
If many of these firms had secure tape media, using encryption, tape media would
have been useless to thieves.  There are a few vendors (FalconStor, SecureAgent,
Avax, Kastenchase, and others)  which have products that serve various platforms
with various offerings, but the arena is still wide open.  Encrypted data can be
backed up to tape, stored in remote and local disk environments, and then
decrypted when required, either in real time, or as archived data.  These will
become a must-have for companies, and its a wonder there parentare not more
regulations in this regard.  The time for secure data is now.  We expect to
begin
offering an exciting solution soon.

Prices for the Lexmark Optra S family of laser printers has bottomed out.  Any
more large packages will have little effect on the market price.  Anyone who
wants to minimize total cost should consider these gems.  Machines are cheap and
durable.  Toner is cheap and abundant.

As reported earlier: We have now sold over 4,000 coax/twinax to ethernet
conversion cards/boxes.  We successfully prototyped our second generation card
for 4224’s and are delighted to have liquid inventory starting at the end of
August.  So, consider carefully before buying new printers.  These old 4224’s
are built better and last longer than any other printer we’ve found in the mass
market.  Conversion is simple, inexpensive, and does not interfere with the
clients’ ongoing business.  Before you buy or recommend a plastic printer,
ponder the cost-effectiveness of the combination of our 4224-4xx card in IBM’s
4224 printer line.

We expect to roll out a leasing program for equipment we provide.  We expect to
make the process simple and easy, allowing you to choose it as an option and,
with a few clicks, execute a leasing agreement.

Further changes to our web site will soon be obvious, as we enter a re-design
phase.  I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from those of you who use my
site on a regular basis, so I promise to keep it fast and simple, but filled
with abundant information and reference.  We hope to begin electronic commerce
and have faster provision of tracking information available on the site.

We also are pleased to announce the addition of Kim Max to our sales force.  She
is attempting to augment our efforts in the market for Tape subsystems.  We hope
that you will accept her warmly.

Rosetta Technologies has announced a line of MICR printer based on the famous
Ricoh engine (70ppm, 92ppm).  MICR is Rosetta’s specialty and these will be nice
entries is the growing MICR environment.

Here’s the latest hots and nots:
Sweet spots:
IBM 2074-002’s sitting NOW!
IBM 2770-001 InfoPrint 70.  We have one banded now.
IBM 6400-015, 008, 050, P50  Get them while they’re still cheap.
IBM 1332 (4527-001) sitting NEW IN BOX.
IBM 1352n and 1352 (4528-n01, 4528-001) over 250 pieces sitting NEW IN BOX.
IBM 4230-102’s, 4230-202’s, and 4230-4i3’s.  Most others are fairly tight.  
These can accommodate IPDS ETHERNET!!!
IBM 1100 (45xx series) series (1125, 1130)
InfoPrint 1228 (4928-001) – 28ppm in color! NEW in box.
Lexmark 2480 – fast and durable desktop narrow carriage impact printer
Lexmark Optra E 4026-070 cute 8ppm desktop laser
Lexmark Optra M410 – more just in
Lexmark Optra S1250, S1255, S1625, S1855’s – lots and lots sitting (most with
ethernet).
Lexmark Optra S2450 — 24ppm laser
Lexmark Optra Se3455 – 34 pages per minute and cheap-to-keep (16)
Lexmark T612’s — over 70 units in stock now.
Lexmark T614’s — over 25 units in stock now.
Lexmark T522’s – over 300 pieces in stock now.
Lexmark T620n’s – 23 in stock now.
Lexmark T630’s — over 100 units in stock now.
Lexmark Optra W810 – 35ppm and 11×17 in a very solid printer.
Lexmark external Ethernet print servers 4034-103 – over 100… less than $40
each!!
Lexmark 4227plus- fast ASCII impact printer
More trays and drawers for above lasers than I care to admit….

They have also “pre-announced” a replacement
product for their existing 4400 series thermal printers.  Their new line will
offer built in RFID functionality, and other enhancements.  I expect some
announcements of newer monochrome and color laser printers as well.

This
month I’d like to revisit the Thin Client market.  For all those who don’t yet
understand the vast improvements this brings to your users, this is likely to be
a pleasant surprise.  Over the last several years, standards have emerged in the
client/PC market which are increasingly making the Personal Computer overkill
for most corporate applications.  The concept of a PC-like appliance may be the
easiest to comprehend.  All the functional attributes of a conventional PC may
end up becoming their weakest point(s).  So many updates, changes, tweaks,
patches, viruses, etc.  Its a small wonder that more users haven’t moved to the
newer model of infrastructure.

Several companies have attempted to enter
the market and some have failed.  Others are also-rans, as price drives their
sales.  The real winners are those with a proprietary advantage.  I favor two
here, but there are others with attributes you may find more useful.  I like
ComputerLab International  and I-O Corporation.  Why?  Because of the maturity
of their product lines and their die-hard support of the dealer community.  The
benefits of these commitments are palpable.  The products are continually
improving, and they listen to the dealer community for advice and improvements. 
In the long run, a supportable, dependable installation depends on a reliable
and consistent manufacturer.  Both are excellent.  One more thing bears
mention:  They both offer a novel and awesome product that will allow
replacement of “dumb” terminals with an ethernet version without all the
overhead of a thin-client or a PC.  You turn it on and it boots to a terminal
session.  Simple, easy, perfect.

Additionally, there are the older
“hybrid” products like the IBM 3488 and 3483.  Terminal logic bases with
non-proprietary monitors.

Both IBM and Lexmark have continued to refresh
their laser printer offerings, providing ever more features and speeds for the
same or less money.  Not that it’s any big surprise, but the money is in the
toners.  Beware of what you wish for, though.  The machines aren’t made quite as
well and the toners are more expensive.  I recommend the older ones, but who can
stop the forward march of change?  I wrote last month about reducing total cost,
and there are those that understand and implement it.  I can only make a strong
case. The rest is up to you.

In additional to the many other changes, IBM
has closed its refurbishing facility for large print engines in Endicott.  That
should mean more business trickling down to the third party market, but so far
we haven’t noticed any significant up tick.

IDG has some awesome
enhancements coming based on their wildly successful 9074 product line.  If you
are in the market for a 3174 replacement, don’t let marketing be your guide. 
Find out the facts about these products.

Here’s the latest hots and
nots:
Sweet spots:
IBM 4000-id3/id4 Venerable printer with excellent Roll
Systems attachment options (ID3: PAGE COUNT = 25,777,683 W/FEATURES: 4840, 9403,
9410, 4404, 4540, 4481;  ID4: COUNT 25,933,478 W/FEATURES:
4840,8524,9410,9941,9993,4367,4540,4540,9470)
IBM 2770-001 InfoPrint 70.  We
have one of only a couple in the market now.
IBM 6400-015, 008, 050, P50  Get
them while they’re still cheap.
IBM 1352n and 1352 (4528-n01, 4528-001) over
250 pieces sitting NEW IN BOX below dealer cost.
IBM 4230-102’s.  Most others
are fairly tight
InfoPrint 1228 (4928-001) – 28ppm in color!
InfoPrint 62
(4370) High-quality, continuous forms printer
Lexmark 2480 – fast and durable
desktop narrow carriage impact printer
Lexmark Optra E 4026-070 cute 8ppm
desktop laser
Lexmark Optra M410 – more just in
<>Lexmark Optra
S1250, 1255, 1855’s – lots and lots sitting (most with ethernet).
Lexmark
Optra S1625 16ppm laser at a great value, Huge quantity of units sitting
now.
Lexmark Optra S2455 — 24ppm laser
Lexmark Optra Se3455 – 34 pages
per minute and cheap-to-keep (16)
Lexmark T612’s — over 70 units in stock
now.
Lexmark T522’s – over 300 pieces in stock now.
Lexmark T620 and
T620n’s – 23 in stock now.
Lexmark T630’s — over 100 units in stock
now.
Lexmark Optra W810 – 35ppm and 11×17 in a very solid printer.
Lexmark
external Ethernet print servers 4034-103 – over 100… less than $50
each!!
Lexmark 4227plus- fast ASCII impact printer
More trays and drawers
for above lasers than I care to admit….

Tighter:
Multifunction
upgrades for IBM and Lexmark machines (we have a few)
Lexmark Optra
T622
Lexmark Optra T520
Lexmark Optra T616
Lexmark Optra
T614
Lexmark Optra T610
IBM 1100 (45xx series) series (1120, 1125, 1130,
1140).  We have a few of each
IBM 1145 (45xx series)
IBM 1312
IBM
1412
IBM 4247-003 – one left
IBM 4247-V03
IBM 4232-302 -Less than
5
IBM 4224-1e3 twinax

I attended
my first face-to-face meeting with colleagues (?) and was pleased to meet many
people at ASCDI in Orlando.  I’m so pleased to have seen some old faces (no, I
didn’t mean it that way….).  I learned some interesting stuff, reminisced, and
shook hands with many.  I didn’t have a lot in common with many of them.  I am
just not in the leasing, Cisco, or Sun business, so thank goodness that I I
found others from my world.

IBM remains mysterious in their plans for the
desktop impact market. The IBM 423x family (4230, 4232), heir to the more sturdy
but older than the legendary IBM 4224 printers. I have advice for all the users
of AS/400 and S/390 printers: stock up on them now.   As supplies of third party
sources for 4247 “junk” dry up, users will be best advised to get and keep IBM
4230’s.  If you use impact printers anywhere in your infrastructure that run off
the “mainframe” you NEED IPDS on your  printer to avoid the “black hole” Beta
error!  4230 printers have IPDS and can be upgraded to ethernet ipds.  If you’ve
read this far then you can’t say that you didn’t see it coming….

Also,
IBM dropped a bomb — Starting with V5r3, your AS/400 applications are NOT
transferable.  Did you hear that?  An indefinite amount of software investment
just vanished.

I continue to work on the web site, upping the reference
materials that are linked from the various models.  I have a lot of accumulated
info, knowledge and data. Look for  tweaks and updates.

Over the past
couple weeks, I have found a palpable slowdown in the hardware business.  Others
echo this sentiment.  I have always believed that this industry is a good proxy
for the economy at large.  We tend to be sensitive to economic changes.  I
suspect that our economy is in for a rough ride over the coming years.  Surely
Americans have done miraculous things in our short history, but this is
particularly difficult:  Stagnant real wages, rising interest rates, ballooning
government deficits, school performance deteriorating, personal debt at
unmanageable levels.  Sounds like a recipe for struggle.  Keep it simple: Spend
less than you earn.

In order to asymptote your total cost of print, the
following rule-of-thumb applies:  Let your printers run forever… maintain them
with depot hot spares… everything gets cheaper and cheaper:  This shows how
average total cost approaches the marginal cost of an the supplies.

In
order to approach minimized cost, ride your printers throughout the declining
market.

Lexmark T612’s
— over 70 units in stock now. Ask about ethernet upgrades.
Lexmark T522’s –
over 350 pieces in stock now.
Lexmark T620 and T620n’s – 23 in stock
now.
Lexmark T630’s — over 150 units in stock now! Ask about ethernet
upgrades.

Lexmark Optra W810 – 35ppm and 11×17 in a very solid printer.
Bring your deals.
Lexmark external Ethernet print servers (over 100)… less
than $50 each!!
Lexmark 4227plus- fast ASCII impact printer
More trays and
drawers for above lasers than I care to
admit….

Be warned:  If you intend to seize the opporunity to replace your
crippled band printer with a device intended to run ethernet, be careful what
you wish for!  Any attempt to print from an AS/400 or Z series/ s390 mainframe
will have a problem.  I have written and “taught” extensively over the past
several years about the Black Hole of print.  If you intend to print from either
of the abovementioned sources, please read my white paper:

Moving From
Coax (3270) or Twinax (5250) SNA to TCP/IP Ethernet for Host Connectivity: A
Strategic Guide to Implementation
and/or call to discuss the options.  Don’t
make an expensive and embarassiung mistake.  Get the info you need to make the
right choice.

And here’s another “curve ball”:  There aren’t any
channel-attached impact printers left to offer!

4247’s are getting to be
like hen’s teeth.  The few we have found we have inventoried, but its getting
“skinny” out here.   Use IBM 4230-102 or 4i3 for twinax IPDS, 4230-202 or 5i3
for coax IPDS, or ethernet IPDS with out attachment card.  Otherwise, you’ll
probably try to make an ASCII impact printer work on your mainframe…. good
luck.

Seems that another well-repsected dealer is getting out of the
printer market. No one ever said that this is an easy market!

Last
month’s article made mention of the nervousness of the PC market due to IBM’s
Lenovo sale.  I received a comment from a colleague and want to comment on
another perspective.  I’ll give you a synopsis:

The market for used PC’s
has gotten much firmer over the past several years.  There are several reasons
which should be noted for this market shift:

1) Changes to the market
have resulted in a smaller number of dealers and leasing companies.  There are
just fewer players.  The survivors are those with patience and conservative
expectations.  The go-go days of seemingly infinite supplies have dwindled and
the remaining players are less reckless in their deals.

2) The big names
haven’t changed in the past 15 years.  The big three have always beeen there. 
Even IBM’s sale to Lenovo won’t show a marked change to IBM’s distant third
place. Thier production and manufacturing had been done in China and Asia
anyway.  Dell is the 800 pound gorilla.  The quality and stabilty projected by
Dell has created a surprisingly orderly and predictable market.

3) The
turnover rate has slowed.  Users are finding that the marginal improvments in
processing power and storage have less value relative to the cost of an
incremental upgrade.  Gear is not being “churned” at lease expiration, resulting
in less equipment coming back to market.  The value received from current
generation of equipment seems to outweigh immediate upgrades.  The plateau of
technology has contributed to the change in market performance.  The new
products continue to push down prices for second-market equipment,  but a slower
rate than in prior years.  As the new multiprocessor core units hit market in
the future, their price points may cause a readjustment but overall trend should
be consistent.

4) Disintermediation in the industry has taken manby
levels of brokers and dealers out of the loop, reducing the transaction costs
borne by the final end user.

5) Volumes are stable. Manufacturer (Vendor)
lease programs have eaten away at the availability of second market products
hitting US markets.  This will dry up supplies over the long run, but it’s such
a big market that it had been hard to notice over time.  This attrition from
vendor leases has been successful in removing the vendor’s cannibalization
risk.

Certainly there are more reasons, but these seem to be the primary
justification for this newly tight (?) and stable PC market.

I’m looking
forward to seeing some of my oldest friends at the ASCDI conference in Orlando
next month.  I know you all by voice.  Let’s marry a face to it!

Here’s
the latest hots and nots:
Sweet spots:
IBM 4000-id3/id4 Venerable printer
with excellent Roll Systems attachment options (ID3: PAGE COUNT = 25,777,683
W/FEATURES: 4840, 9403, 9410, 4404, 4540, 4481;  ID4: COUNT 25,933,478
W/FEATURES: 4840,8524,9410,9941,9993,4367,4540,4540,9470)
IBM 2770-001
InfoPrint 70.  We have one of only a couple in the market now.
IBM 4332-001
32ppm workhorse beats all comers for least cost per page. NEW IN BOX units
available
Also have some MICR 4332-004’s.
IBM 6400-012, -015, Units
sitting with most features.
IBM 1352n and 1352 (4528-n01, 4528-001) over 250
pieces sitting NEW IN BOX below dealer cost.
IBM 4322-001 These were a very
hot commodity, but we have several and are dealing.
We have a “plethora” of
IBM 4230-102’s.  Most others are fairly tight
Lexmark 2480 – fast and durable
desktop narrow carriage impact printer
Lexmark Optra E 4026-070 cute 8ppm
desktop laser
Lexmark Optra M410 – more just in

Lexmark Optra S1250,
1255, 1855’s – lots and lots sitting (most with ethernet).
Lexmark Optra
S1625 16ppm laser at a great value, Huge quantity of units sitting
now.
Lexmark Optra S2455 — 24ppm laser, over 80 pieces sitting. Bring your
deals.
Lexmark Optra Se3455 – 34 pages per minute and cheap-to-keep
(16)

Lexmark T612’s — over 70 units in stock now. Ask about ethernet
upgrades.
Lexmark T522’s – over 350 pieces in stock now.
Lexmark T620 and
T620n’s – 23 in stock now.
Lexmark T630’s — over 150 units in stock now! Ask
about ethernet upgrades.

Lexmark Optra W810 – 35ppm and 11×17 in a very
solid printer. Bring your deals.
Lexmark Ethernet print servers (over 100)…
less than $50 each!!
Lexmark 4227plus- fast ASCII impact printer
More
trays and drawers for above lasers than I care to
admit….

Tighter:
Multifunction upgrades for IBM and Lexmark machines
(we have a few)
Lexmark Optra T622
Lexmark Optra T520
Lexmark Optra
T616
Lexmark Optra T614
Lexmark Optra T610

IBM 1100 series (1120,
1125, 1130, 1140).  We have a few of each
IBM 1145 (45xx series) – We have
one
IBM 1312 – none 🙁
IBM 4247-003 – We have less than 5
IBM 4247-V03
– None 🙁
IBM 4230 twinax and coax.
IBM 4232-302 – three left….(but
supposed to have 14 more showing up any time now…)
IBM 4224-1e3 twinax –
none

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