Talking of old IBM systems

[Nico de Jong]

Subject: Re: Talking of old IBM systems


>> Reading a thread on old RS/6000's, I came to think of something I heard 
>> in
>> the 80's or thereabouts.
>> It was said, that decommissioned 360's were dumped in the Atlantic, to
>> prevent that they fell in the hands of the OEM manufacturers.
>> Is there any truth in this statement?
>
> I don't know about the ocean, but they did send them off to
> scrap yards and stuff to be demolished.  I had a roommate in
> college who had worked at one of these places in high school
> and he had one of the 360 nameplates as a souvenir.  And there
> was more than just OEMs to consider.  Back then they'd lease
> you their grandmother but not sell much of anything.  So
> when something went off lease and they had a new model,
> most customers were "gently" encouraged to lease the new
> one and IBM would pull the old one.  So what to do with
> the old ones?  Well, you can guess.  Certainly couldn't have
> the older model in the used market to cut into leases on
> the new one...
>
Ah yes, the lease problem. I had forgotten about that one.

Nice folklore : shortly after I canged jobs, the new place got a new leased 
2540 http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/2540.html
When I opened it up, I got quite astonished, as it was the exact same 2540 I 
had used in my old job. How I could tell ? My pack of cards was in the door 
pocket ! And the 2540 was supposed to be new. They hadnt even cleared out 
old confetti!

Another place I was some years later, the 360/25 was to be replaced with a 
370/125 (IIRC). So, friday afternoon the technician came, dismantled 
everything, and saturday morning the movers came, to cart the system into 
oblivion (I suppose). When the (other) movers were supposed to come with the 
125, nothing happened. Panicking telephone calls, shouting, etc. Then a 
telephonecall came, saying that the 125 had unexplicably been routed to 
Paris, and they didnt know when it could come.
Call to the first move, who hadnt yet unloaded the truck. He came back, the 
technician assembled the system again (I forgot to tell that the machine 
room was on the first floor), and he went home sunday morning. MOnday we got 
a call, that the system would arrive tuesday. Now the technician waited til 
the new system was in the yard, before he started to disassemble the /25. I 
didnt accomplish much that week.

Nico