With the naming of Lou Gerstner as its new CEO (and the retirement of John Akers on May 7), IBM now has a chance to change both its own organizational structure and goals and, at the same time, the future shape of the computer industry.
Nearly every computer publication has polled its readers asking such questions as "Do you think IBM can succeed at changing, Do you think Lou Gerstner is the right man to lead a turnaround at IBM," and "Do you care?"
Reactions to such early pulse taking are mixed. Clearly customers are concerned about IBM's seeming inability to understand their future needs and help them move to new computing platforms. On the other hand, customers are divided between a "we have to give him some time to assess the problem and formulate a solution" point of view (we concur), and the feeling that an outsider like Gerstner can't possibly fix a computer company (see below). Some are convinced that it just doesn't matter, since the day of the mainframe is over and......
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