The Handbook of IBM Terminology 1990 Jeff Hosier and others UKP27.00 Xephon Technology Transfer Ltd
If you’re still hunting desperately for the Christmas gift for the IBM user that has everything – or for anybody that crosses IBM’s path in their work – look no further: The Handbook of IBM Terminology 1990 will fill the bill admirably. Sounds dry? Look up Entry/36. The 5363. The last of the System/36 product line. It would have been much more accurate to call it the Exit/36. Or EIS: Exective Information System. End-user systems for really important people. Or DIAL-IBM: Direct Information and Assistance Link to IBM. Telephone link to an IBM database to enable IBM to shift more iron. Well of course we like it because it doesn’t take either the subject or itself too seriously and seldom resists the temptation to add an irreverant aside – We make no apologies for any solecisms, semantic faux-pas, inconsistencies, bad taste or sheer nonsense among the terms defined in the Handbook. Language in the IBM world is just like that, writes Jeff Hosier in the Foreword. In between the revelation that for example Bubblegum is the in-house nickname for the Bblingen lab, there are hundreds of those nagging acronyms that one can never quite remember the meaning of, complete with explanations – in 214 pages, we estimate that getting on for 4,000 terms are defined, and we’ve never found any of IBM’s attempts at providing the same sort of handy reference book come anywhere near this one in utility and accessability. And in among those 4,000 or so entries, we’re delighted that the compilers were unable to resist the temptation to include Dead Cat Bounce – a term that Computergram rushed into print the first time we encountered it – explaining that This is an American stock market expression used to describe a temporary market recovery after a fall, as opposed to a less ephemeral reversal of a bear trend. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the IBM world, but is such a wonderful expression that it merits inclusion in its own right. It would certainly be a an excellent way of describing the impact of certain key IBM products – the 9370, DisOSS [Xephon calls it DISOSS, but it was originally called DisOSS, and Computergram needs a written letter of explanation from IBM explaining why a term or style has been altered before going along with such rewritings of history] the 8100… Events have overtaken the compilers, and IBM’s share price keeps making dead cat bounces before falling to new six-year lows. If you find the tone of Computergram a bit of a pain, you’ll find this book indispensible, if you enjoy reading Computergram, you’ll love this book. It really is worth the cover price – honest!
