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IBM's non-announcement-announcement

What is wrong with IBM? On Wednesday the company sort of announced that it had a blade server for SMEs.
Written by Colin Barker, Contributor

What is wrong with IBM? On Wednesday the company sort of announced that it had a blade server for SMEs. I say sort of announced because while IBM said it was launching a blade for SMEs, which would have been a neat trick since blade's are complex and expensive, it did not actually tell us anything about this "virtual" blade. Instead, the press release droned on (and on and on) telling us about the potential benefits of blades for SMEs without telling us anything about the blade itself. Nothing at all in fact. What IBM did go into some detail about was telling us that: "IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice". And more of the same. So what are we to glean from this. Simple, IBM may be launching a blade for SMEs but not until the fourth quarter of this year and not even then, possibly. This sort of non-announment went out of fashion soon after various companies were sued forspoiling markets by pre-announcing non-existent products. ( eg "Don't by so-and-so's blade now, ours is coming along soon and will be MUCH better.") Hopefully that sort of drastic action is not needed now. Come on IBM, we expect better of you than that.

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