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To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (15531)	12/24/1997 12:23:00 PM
From: Keith Hankin	Respond to of 24154

No. You are wrong here. Sometimes the costs associated with switching are so prohibitive that to do so could even threaten the very existence of the organization attempting to undergo it. This is particularly true of smaller businesses or ones that already have somewhat precarious financial situations. Also, look at how successful IBM still is. Lots of this continued success comes from the fact that so many of the mission critical systems on IBM mainframes are still being used. Yes, part of this is due to the fact that IBM continues to improve the hardware/software platforms. But I suspect that the biggest reason that much has been kept there is because it basically works and because the costs associated with switching are prohibitive. Thus, IBM does not need to be very innovative to keep customers from switching, only enough so that the barrier of switching remains high relative to any benefits to be gained from switching. Yes, customers always have the choice of switching, but at what cost? They can also choose to go back to paper and throw away all of their computers. But these "choices" often lead to severe casualties, sometimes death. Here's an analogy. Suppose you are living on an island. Life on this island is not very fun. You are required to spend most of your time working for "The Company". However, they throw you a bone, and every so often they give you some time for yourself. But, generally you are pretty unhappy. You have a choice of going to another island that will allow you to have a much better life than you have now. The only problem is that to get to this other island, you have to swim. Through shark-infested waters. 3 miles. Rough seas. Few who have tried have survived. So do you believe that the government of the islands should step in and force "The Company" to provide interfaces so that other islands can provide ways to go back and forth between the islands at will?