Harry,
IBM now $90. Looks like the FUD has come full circle with IBM, this time with Blue as the recipient of it's charms. Actually it's more reality than FUD now with IBM. For those that don't know, the term FUD is attributed to Gene Amdahl, and it was his description of IBM's talking about the impossibility of someone else besides IBM coming out with an IBM compatible mainframe. It was the IBM 360 at the time. Well, FUD has now come 360 degrees and the shoe is on the other foot. Unfortunately, all of us tech investors get to pay today.
Just to dispel some of the reasons for the FUD, I would estimate, with a lot of confidence, that the vast majority of all mainframes and other such ilk of computers that might have a Y2K problem, from the 80's or older, have either been fixed or have had their plugs pulled. From the mid 80's on, the Y2K problem, or exposure, when the 99s roll over to 00s has been absolutely addressed and not allowed to be a problem. Moreso, certainly in the last 3 years or so, as the FUD over Y2K has increased to a crescendo, it has been under a microscope re prevention or fix. Finally, any new hardware or software that Fortune 2000 or other companies might buy today from IBM or others will be squeaky clean. So there is no good reason to not buy IT equipment today.
Off the soapbox.
Tony |
