Despite the pallor which HP cast over the 3000 community with its November 14 announcement, the system continues to win some new places to serve in the manufacturing and telecom communities. David Floyd of ISV the Support Group inc. reported that a brand new installation of MANMAN on an HP 3000 went live at a division of Siemens during January. We’ve also heard another big customer rumor which can’t be confirmed about the installation of the first new HP 3000 at a very popular national online services provider — another example of 3000 purchases that have proceeded after HP’s recommendation that the customers start looking at other platforms, because the 3000 remains the best choice for these new customers today. In this regard, HP general manager Winston Prather of the 3000 division may have been correct in our interview last month, saying that “A number of the larger deals that were in the process — they’re still buying them. Customers are buying because they need it. If you needed it yesterday, you still need it today. [Ours] is a strategic decision, not a tactical one.” The wisdom of that new HP strategy for the 3000 is still being widely scrutinized, while tactical purchases like those above continue.