Any proper text UI will be better than a clicky interface. Once you use shortcut keys and know the programs, you’ll fly through them.
Ambitious_Platypus99
Good Ol Power 8 we call it. AS400. We use it at my job for inventory, payroll, and maintenance requests.
mestisnewfound
The vast majority of the payment processing and banking system is all built on top of programs from the 70’s and 80’s. IBM makes a fortune maintaining and developing new hardware for those mainframe computers that are the backbone of the financial system.
coffeejn
That was updated in 2018. Not sure which is more surprising since getting someone to work on that code in 2018 would have been hard to find.
Revolutionary_Pack54
Good. When I worked for Lowe’s in 2016 they used a clearly dos based text mode interface and it was so easy to learn and use and you could be rapid-fire with it. Later on they changed it to a graphical interface and not only did it chug on those POS systems but it also was less intuitive and you could never truly get fast with the system.
m0hVanDine
If it works it works.
If ain’t broken, don’t fix it!
Mortimer452
The ol’ green-screen mainframe is antiquated but still rules in transactional processing systems. Once you learn all the shortcuts, navigating everything by keyboard is soooo much faster than using a mouse.
Everything is text, no graphics, every screen loads instantly. Terminal emulator can run on any PC from the last 25 years and will be just as fast for every user regardless of their machine specs.
There’s a lot of dudes in their late 50s and 60s making absolute BANK maintaining these systems. They are the backbone of our entire financial system. Many utility companies (gas, oil, electric) are still using them, too.
word-sys
“If its works, dont touch it” thing
JasterBobaMereel
They are still around for 3 reasons :
They work
They are insanely reliable
It would cost too much to update them, with no real benefit
Sechura
An AS400, surprisingly popular server for it’s cheap cost, wide support, and overall reliability. It’s basically just a terminal interface to a SQL database. I’m guessing manufacturing based on the state of everything in the photo, though it’s used at a bunch of places still, Costco and NTB come to mind immediately.
Airbornstinger
AS400
Advanced for the 90s still too advanced for most users today.
ThatGothGuyUK
That’s logging in to an IBM AS400 (Application System/400) a medium mainframe from IBM.
It’s copyright 1980, 2018 because the original was launched in 1988 but that’s the 2018 version (not sure why they decided to say copyright 1980.
Stop complaining about as400 it does it’s job probably better that the os we are running it on nowadays
callumjm95
AS400 is great when you get the hang of it
ttboo
Using AS400 right now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it … Ever
Spaghetti_Joe9
Ah, AS400. More common than you think.
Shoddy-Success546
How is macro data refinement coming these days?
puaka
That boot time is unmatched tho.
Billyone1739
Good old AS400, very robust and reliable but requires good institutional knowledge on the user side because it doesn’t hold your hand.
There’s a lot of tricks and shortcuts it can do that you’ll only know if a co-worker shows you and explains how to do them.
If the job has a high turnover rate a lot of that stuff gets lost.
GMarsack
I helped maintain a piece of software for a WMS that was sunsetted in the late 80’s (hundreds of retailers were stranded still using it without the ability to export their data). So I wrote a wrapper that gave it the ability to push/pull product inventory, pricing, orders, customer data, and a host of other stuff to modern systems using a combination of COM (old school) and Windows services that had a web API hooks.
It gave this software the ability to be used online for e-commerce. Company’s used it for a good 10 years before they finally transitioned away from the sunsetted software.
The old kiosk menus of the WMS had similar screens as the screenshot. I remember having to store data in creative ways because the system had no concept of email, SMS or marketing preferences, so collecting this data from the customer had to be stored in several different random, unrelated/undocumented fields broken up into multiple rows and tables in the DB because the field lengths were so short and couldn’t be modified. It was a hackfest, but it worked. lol
Epicporkchop79-7
I worked at Walmart as they were moving away from the green screens and replacing the bigger telxon things with touch screens. The old ones worked much better. The newer ones were slow and baggy. I haven’t worked there in over 5 years. It might be different now.
Arroz-Con-Culo
Good ol’ AS400
Shit is so old that they still sell it with modern hardware and it is light speed fast.
CodingNightmares
The amount of companies held up by as400 would blow your mind haha
Not just finance. AS400 also powers many of the largest trucking companies in the US. Can run your entire sales, csm, operations, finance, and safety dashboards from one system. Tough to beat
31 Comments
ohh cobol, neat.
Any proper text UI will be better than a clicky interface. Once you use shortcut keys and know the programs, you’ll fly through them.
Good Ol Power 8 we call it. AS400. We use it at my job for inventory, payroll, and maintenance requests.
The vast majority of the payment processing and banking system is all built on top of programs from the 70’s and 80’s. IBM makes a fortune maintaining and developing new hardware for those mainframe computers that are the backbone of the financial system.
That was updated in 2018. Not sure which is more surprising since getting someone to work on that code in 2018 would have been hard to find.
Good. When I worked for Lowe’s in 2016 they used a clearly dos based text mode interface and it was so easy to learn and use and you could be rapid-fire with it. Later on they changed it to a graphical interface and not only did it chug on those POS systems but it also was less intuitive and you could never truly get fast with the system.
If it works it works.
If ain’t broken, don’t fix it!
The ol’ green-screen mainframe is antiquated but still rules in transactional processing systems. Once you learn all the shortcuts, navigating everything by keyboard is soooo much faster than using a mouse.
Everything is text, no graphics, every screen loads instantly. Terminal emulator can run on any PC from the last 25 years and will be just as fast for every user regardless of their machine specs.
There’s a lot of dudes in their late 50s and 60s making absolute BANK maintaining these systems. They are the backbone of our entire financial system. Many utility companies (gas, oil, electric) are still using them, too.
“If its works, dont touch it” thing
They are still around for 3 reasons :
They work
They are insanely reliable
It would cost too much to update them, with no real benefit
An AS400, surprisingly popular server for it’s cheap cost, wide support, and overall reliability. It’s basically just a terminal interface to a SQL database. I’m guessing manufacturing based on the state of everything in the photo, though it’s used at a bunch of places still, Costco and NTB come to mind immediately.
AS400
Advanced for the 90s still too advanced for most users today.
That’s logging in to an IBM AS400 (Application System/400) a medium mainframe from IBM.
It’s copyright 1980, 2018 because the original was launched in 1988 but that’s the 2018 version (not sure why they decided to say copyright 1980.
It’s not as old as it looks it’s just working through a terminal window.[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckaysoftware/)
IBM as400, working with this to.
Stop complaining about as400 it does it’s job probably better that the os we are running it on nowadays
AS400 is great when you get the hang of it
Using AS400 right now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it … Ever
Ah, AS400. More common than you think.
How is macro data refinement coming these days?
That boot time is unmatched tho.
Good old AS400, very robust and reliable but requires good institutional knowledge on the user side because it doesn’t hold your hand.
There’s a lot of tricks and shortcuts it can do that you’ll only know if a co-worker shows you and explains how to do them.
If the job has a high turnover rate a lot of that stuff gets lost.
I helped maintain a piece of software for a WMS that was sunsetted in the late 80’s (hundreds of retailers were stranded still using it without the ability to export their data). So I wrote a wrapper that gave it the ability to push/pull product inventory, pricing, orders, customer data, and a host of other stuff to modern systems using a combination of COM (old school) and Windows services that had a web API hooks.
It gave this software the ability to be used online for e-commerce. Company’s used it for a good 10 years before they finally transitioned away from the sunsetted software.
The old kiosk menus of the WMS had similar screens as the screenshot. I remember having to store data in creative ways because the system had no concept of email, SMS or marketing preferences, so collecting this data from the customer had to be stored in several different random, unrelated/undocumented fields broken up into multiple rows and tables in the DB because the field lengths were so short and couldn’t be modified. It was a hackfest, but it worked. lol
I worked at Walmart as they were moving away from the green screens and replacing the bigger telxon things with touch screens. The old ones worked much better. The newer ones were slow and baggy. I haven’t worked there in over 5 years. It might be different now.
Good ol’ AS400
Shit is so old that they still sell it with modern hardware and it is light speed fast.
The amount of companies held up by as400 would blow your mind haha
Ain’t broke, don’t fix it…
If it works, don’t fix it.
If it ain’t broken …
https://preview.redd.it/s7ehp02d0z1f1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c204793b110609243f2ebb182721361eaf7c5f99
Hell yeah brother!
Not just finance. AS400 also powers many of the largest trucking companies in the US. Can run your entire sales, csm, operations, finance, and safety dashboards from one system. Tough to beat
