THE US-based mainframe technology start-up company founded by industry guru Gene Amdahl - Andor International - launched an Asia operation yesterday that will make its headquarters in Hong Kong.
Mr Amdahl, whose name has been synonymous with mainframe computing for more than 30 years, was in the territory yesterday evangelising what he calls a new wave of mainframe computing that will make IBM-compatible ''Big Iron'' technology more prevalent than ever.
Contrary to the politically correct industry thinking that paints the mainframe as a dinosaur-like relic, Mr Amdahl maintained that mainframe computing was growing at a healthy clip.
He said it should accelerate in the next two to three years with the development of new low-cost, high-performance mainframe systems that were compatible with existing high-end mainframe machines.
''Mainframes have been around for a long, long time, and you hear a few grumblings these days about them being dinosaurs,'' Mr Amdahl said.
''But the mainframe is by far the most complex of computing vehicles and, as such, it had to wait longer in the technology revolution for the technology to reach a point to produce a really economical mainframe system.
