Editing IBM System/36 (section)

==== Advanced/36 (9402, 9406) ====
{{Main|IBM Advanced/36}}
In 1994, IBM released the AS/400 [[Advanced/36]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/pdf/as400.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503190444/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/pdf/as400.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 3, 2006|title=A Brief History of the IBM AS/400 and iSeries}}</ref>  with two models (9402-236 and 9402-436). Priced as low as $7995, it was a machine that allowed System/36 users to get faster and more modern hardware while "staying 36". Based on standard AS/400 hardware, the Advanced/36 could run SSP, the operating system of the System/36, alone, or within [[AS/400]]'s [[OS/400]] as a [[virtual machine]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_sm/6/897/ENUS9402-436/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en |title=9402-436 IBM AS/400 Advanced 36 Model 436 |website=IBM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812162901/http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_sm/6/897/ENUS9402-436/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en |archive-date=2016-08-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> so that it could be upgraded to a full-blown AS/400 for just extra licensing costs. The A/36 was packaged in a black enclosure which was slightly larger than a common PC cabinet.

The Advanced/36 bought the world of System/36 and SSP about five more years in the marketplace, but by the end of the 20th century, the marketplace for the System/36 was almost unrecognizable. The IBM printers and displays that had completely dominated the marketplace in the 80s were replaced by a PC or a third-party monitor with an attached PC-type printer. [[Twinaxial]] cable had disappeared in favor of cheap adapters and [[Cat 5|standard telephone wire]]. The System/36 was eventually replaced by AS/400s at the high end and PCs at the low end. 

The Advanced line was later upgraded to AS/400 9406-170 hardware. By 2000, the Advanced/36 was withdrawn from marketing.