Happy Birthday IBM i!

This video was taken during the 2013 COMMON Annual Meeting & Conference in Austin.


Unfortunately they didn’t include my wishing IBM i a Happy Birthday (where I promised not to sing).

I have to say, IBM i (formerly System i, iSeries, & AS/400) has been extraordinarily good to me and my career.

I got involved in the IBM ‘midrange’ platform while working for my uncle’s company (ALP Lighting) reporting to my dad, who was the IT manager, as a Jr. Programmer.

From there I worked as a developer for a number of companies … starting on the S/36 and advancing to the AS/400 almost as soon as it was released.  I remember going to the product announcement event down town at (I think) the Blackstone Theater.  The “Silverlake” was such a poorly kept secret, they started the event by playing Marvin Gaye’s “I heard it through the grape vine”.

As it happens, midrange.com will be 20 years old this September.