plouff@nac.dec.com (16-Nov-1987 1405) (11/17/87)
[Sorry for the new thread, but our internal distribution doesn't let us
reply to individual articles.]
At the rather dissapointing MARCA fair in Marlborough, Mass. this
weekend, a "meet Commodore" session turned into discussion of new
Amiga products (also C-64, omitted here). Here is what the
Commodore spokesman said. Sorry, didn't catch his name, but he is
in charge of customer service. Since he wasn't a marketing guy,
apply your own confidence factor.
According to him, some new products Commodore is releasing are:
- an 80206 Bridgeboard in first quarter 1988
- a 68020/68881 card
- a 1024 x 800 high-resolution monochrome monitor
The rumored long-persistence monitor has been shown as a potential product,
but is not in Commodore's current product development plans. Commodore
has no plans to make an A500 expansion chassis. A2000 RAM expansion
cards have been designed to hold 2M and 8M bytes, but with current
dynamic RAM costs can't be sold for reasonable prices.
We were warned that 1.5M and larger A500 internal RAM expansion
boards may draw too much power for the A500 supply to handle.
Commodore does not recommend using any of these 3rd party boards.
Expect to see PC clones next year based on Bridgeboard technology.
Expect to see Commodore on the Computer Show a couple of times soon.
Last, when asked about products appearing much later in the U.S.
compared to Germany, the spokesman put much of the blame on 12-16
week processing times by the FCC for certification. Maybe there
is some truth to the "FCC excuse" after all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: These opinions are not necessarily my employer's, and most
aren't even mine.
Wes Plouff UUCP: ...!decwrl!nac!plouff
Digital Equipment Corp. Internet: plouff%nac.dec@decwrl.dec.com
Littleton, Mass.grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (11/17/87)
In article <8711161929.AA08759@decwrl.dec.com> plouff@nac.dec.com (16-Nov-1987 1405) writes: > > The rumored long-persistence monitor has been shown as a potential product, > but is not in Commodore's current product development plans. > A2000 RAM expansion > cards have been designed to hold 2M and 8M bytes, but with current > dynamic RAM costs can't be sold for reasonable prices. Clarification: The A2080 is supposed to be on the way, however it's not clear whether in the long run there is a lot of demand for a premium quality Commodore branded monitor, or whether people really prefer to pay the extra money and buy off the shelf multi-sync type monitors. We are selling 2MB boards, however the 8MB board isn't likely to become a product until DRAM prices fall to a level that would allow a reasonable retail price for a fully loaded board. Note that both of these items reflect underlying economy of scale issues. Some third party types can start making money after selling a few dozen ram cards, Commodore production plans are laid out in terms of thousands of units per month. > Expect to see PC clones next year based on Bridgeboard technology. Not sure what this means - we sell PC compatibles now, and will probably have bigger, better, cheaper, etc. ones in the future. There's not any direct tie-in with the bridgeboard. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|ihnp4|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
stever@videovax.Tek.COM (Steven E. Rice, P.E.) (11/24/87)
In article <2805@cbmvax.UUCP>, George Robbins (grr@cbmvax.UUCP) writes: > . . . > We are selling 2MB boards, however the 8MB board isn't likely to become > a product until DRAM prices fall to a level that would allow a reasonable > retail price for a fully loaded board. How about loading the 8 MB board with 2 MB of RAM and sockets for the remainder. Then, sell it as, "A memory that grows on you." (Oooops! That should read "with you." Anyway. . .) Steve Rice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- new: stever@videovax.tv.Tek.com old: {decvax | hplabs | ihnp4 | uw-beaver}!tektronix!videovax!stever