Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.comIBM obviously "lost money" in giving out free software; I don't think
they charged even for distribution tapes or documentation even in the
1970s after unbundling; if it was a legacy free item, you got the
package for free. (And IIRC, some unbundled fee products were still
quite cheap, esp as compared to today's software prices.)
Anyway, the free software was IBM's 'loss leader' to build the utility
value of its computers. IBM unbundled this partly in response to anti-
trust pressures, says Watson in his autobio.
bundling back then is somewhat like flat-rate internet & cellphone
packages ... they immensively simplified things for the customer
... although machines were leased prior to unbundling ... processors had
"meter" (like home utilities). customers had standard 1st shift monthly
charge and additional for use about straight 1st shift. in that sense, a
lot of the bundling were similar to programs ... packaged deals for
"leased" equipment. not long after unbundling, much of the install base
was converted from lease to sales (some unflattering comments that
motivation was outgoing executive got big bonus because of the revenue
spike, but it reduced future ongoing revenue). misc past posts
mentioning 23jun69 unbundling announcement
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#unbundle
besides software, it wasn't unusual for there to be a "team" of SEs
("system engineers") assigned at bigger customers; nearly always onsite
at the customer to provide customer with whatever assistance was needed
for using the computer. With unbundling, these SEs services also became
"charged for". One of the big issues was lots of SE education had been
as sort of journeyman/trainee part of these SE "teams" onsite at
customer installations. With unbundling, nobody was able to figure out
what to do with "trainee" SEs (since if they were doing anything at
customer site, it had to be a billable line item). The "HONE" systems
were several internal (virtual machine) CP67 datacenters, initially for
providing "Hands-On" online access for branch office SEs ... being able
to practice their operating system skills. misc. past posts mentioning
HONE:
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hone
one of the big (leased/metering) issues for offering online, 24x7
timesharing service was programming tricks to minimize meter running
when there was no activity (default was that meter would still run if
system was active/available ... even if it wasn't executing). early on,
off-shift use was extremely sporadic ... but it wasn't likely to
incerase ... unless the system was available, on-demand, 7x24 ... but
recoverable charges for the light, sporadic use wasn't sufficient to
recover hardware billing charges (having the meter only run when there
was actual use went a long way to being able to deploy 7x24 online
offering). some past posts about early 7x24 online commercial
timesharing services
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#timeshare
the company was able to make the case with the gov. that "kernel"
software was still free (necessary for the hardware to operate).
the company then had the failed Future System effort ... some past
posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys
During Future System (which was going to completely replace 360/370 and
be radically different), 370 efforts that were considered possibly
competitive were killed off. Then with the demise of FS, there was mad
rush to get items back into the 370 hardware & software pipelines. The
lack of 370 products is also considered reason that clone processors
were able to get market foothold. With getting new 370 items back into
the product pipelines and the clone processor competition, there was
decision made to transition to charging for kernel software.
I had been doing 360/370 stuff all during the FS period (and making
uncomplimentary comments about the FS activity). some old email (one of
my hobbies was providing packaged production enhanced operating systems
for internal datacenters):
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006v.html#email731212
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#email750102
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#email750430
With the demise of FS and made rush to get out 370 products, various
pieces that I had been doing were selected to ship to customers. Some of
the items selected were to be packaged as (kernel add-on) "Resource
Manager" product. My "Resource Manager" then got selected to be guinea
pig for starting to charge for kernel software. Misc. past posts
mentioning scheduling and resource management
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#fairshare
for a few years there was "base" (free) operating system (kernel)
offerings with optional "charged-for" kernel software (that was growing
in size) ... until the cut-over was made to charge for all kernel
software (and kernel product packaging collapsed back to single
offering). About this time there was transition to "object code only"
... even tho software had started being charge-for with 23jun69
announcement, source was still available (for some produsct shipped with
full source with maintenance being done as source changes as standard
feature). "object code only" eliminated source availability (as standard
option).
--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970