Re:Not surprising.... (Score 1)

Just because YOU are unfamiliar with a technology, that doesn't mean it isn't being used. And thank you for clearly demonstrating that point.

And driving this point further, just because you don't see or directly interact with mainframes in your daily routine doesn't mean they don't exist or are somehow obsolete. What might surprise you is how prevalent mainframe computing really is.

Do you have a bank account? Do you ever pay for anything with a plastic credit or debit card? Do you have running water and electricity provided by a municipal utility? Do you pay taxes? Do you participate in the stock market? Have you ever flown in an airplane? Do you ever look at weather reports?

You may wonder why these areas of our economy and government still use what you feel is archaic technology, the simple answer is that it works. How often do you hear about massive outages preventing electronic credit card payments? The reason these systems are so available is because the banking industry insists on high availability. This means using proven redundant systems that simply do not fail. I'll take this a step further. If it weren't for the banking industry's innovations over the last half century, you would still be walking into a bank on Friday's to cash your check. You would be paying for groceries with cash or checks, and you certainly wouldn't be buying anything off the internet. The internet would look pretty much like it did in 1985, and you probably wouldn't have access to it.

Have I hammered this point enough? Not only is mainframe computing not a dinosaur, it is enormously important to our economy, not to mention many of the conveniences you take for granted.

On another note, did you know that modems still exist? I mean, oh my god- that is so last century.