stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney) (05/05/90)
>Hello from Singapore, > >Below is on of the messages I receive from Info_amiga List. > >Should I wait for the Atari TT or should I dump my Mega 4 and get Amiga 3000? >The 25Mhz version must be fantastic. > >Don't get me wrong. I like Atari and I have been using the Atari since 1985. >I still have the first 520ST as well as Mega 4. However, the following new is >so tempting. I prefer to use my Mega4 with Turbo16 chip and Spectre GCR than >the Mac Plus which given to me by the University. I am now waiting for the TT. >But with only 16MHz? I am not so sure now whether I should keep on waiting. If you're worried about that, give Jim Allen(of Turbo 16 fame) a call. Of course he won't be able to commit to anyrthing until he actually _sees_ a release version TT, but he has mentioned the ease with the TT can be accel- erated on GEnie. > >I am not intend to start the flame war. My point is that > >Atari never bother to offer educational discount and now my students can buy >a Mac SE with Hard disk for lot less than getting Mega 2 + Monochrome Monitor >and no hard disk. They also get free Hypercard with the Mac. Of course we all >know that the Mega is far superior but I can no longer recommend them to by >Atari with 10% discount when they can get 40% discount from Apple. Yep... I believe that Atari would pick up _more_ than a few sales by 1) Making ST, Mega, TT _available_ at university computer shops in the first place. 2) Offering a student dicsount on said machines 3) Placing ads in campus rags like Apple, Zenith, IBM, and NeXT do. (They sell a lot of Zeniths even though they're nothing _too_ special). I saw a young woman buying a NeXT because "daddy" was going to buy her a computer and the guy at the store was telling her what a great one the NeXT was. I feel sorry for when she wants to do anything as simple as install a piece of new software not understanding Unix/Mach.) It wouldn't be too tough to do, I imagine. Even step 2 could be implemented by itself just to nullify the competetion's power/price advantage. > >David Blezard // >d_blezard@unhh.bitnet \X/ >z I-AMIGA RUTVM1 5/05/90 >' D_BLEZARD@UNHH S. SUJARITTANONTA 5/04/90*A3000 Student Discount -- Steve Whitney "It's never _really_ the last minute" (())_-_(()) UCLA Comp. Sci. Grad. Student | (* *) | Internet: stephen@cs.ucla.edu UCLA Bruin--> { \_@_/ } GEnie: S.WHITNEY `-----'
fnddr@acad3.fai.alaska.edu (05/07/90)
In article <35003@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney) writes... >Yep... I believe that Atari would pick up _more_ than a few sales by It has been pointed out numerous times over the years in this group that Atari doesn't want to sell machines in the US, and they are doing an excellent job of it. However, if they ever change their minds, educational discounts would be a good start. I actually recall them advertising a small discount a few years ago as part of a back-to-school promotion. > 1) Making ST, Mega, TT _available_ at university computer shops in the > first place. Very important. The Atari store is across town from this campus. Many students don't own cars. Those that do have a hard time getting off campus during normal business hours due to classes and classwork. Why should they bother to drive a few miles to check out Atari when they can purchase Apple, IBM, Toshiba, Zenith, NeXT, etc on campus (with the cooperation of the local dealers, I might add)? > 2) Offering a student dicsount on said machines I've asked the local Atari dealer several times why they haven't pushed for this. Their answer: "Atari's prices are already lower than anybody else, so why bother?" This is of course false. Also, I've noticed many students seem to believe that if brand X offers a discount and brand Y doesn't, then it must be cheaper to buy the brand X system. Faculty say things like, "the brand X discount program shows that they are committed to higher education; brand Y obviously isn't, so avoid them." Brand Y is, of course, Atari. > 3) Placing ads in campus rags like Apple, Zenith, IBM, and NeXT do. The Atari dealer does here, periodically. It seems to help somewhat in offsetting the damage done by lack of (1) and (2), in that there are some students and faculty who have STs. I would also add: 4) Introduce an ST variant with built-in thinwire ethernet. On this campus and many others, a machine won't even be considered for classroom/lab use if it can't be networked. And students want to buy the same machines used in the classes and labs so they can use familiar software with it. >It wouldn't be too tough to do, I imagine. Even step 2 could be implemented >by itself just to nullify the competetion's power/price advantage. Sad but true. You can mail-order fast 286 and 386sx systems w/hard disk for the cost of the Megas, and the university discounted Apple and other big-name systems are comparable in price. >-- >Steve Whitney "It's never _really_ the last minute" (())_-_(()) >UCLA Comp. Sci. Grad. Student | (* *) | >Internet: stephen@cs.ucla.edu UCLA Bruin--> { \_@_/ } >GEnie: S.WHITNEY `-----' I'm not even a student anymore, so I'm not arguing for a student discount because it would do me any good. I would just like to see Atari go for the university market, because it seems to me like one of the few options they have left to find a niche for themselves. Even though my STs are 4 years old, I'd hate to see them orphaned when the parent company dies. I certainly don't plan to buy more Atari equipment until I see some evidence of intelligent life in Sunnyvale, though. Don Rice Internet: fnddr@acad3.fai.alaska.edu Geophysical Institute E-mail: fnddr@alaska.bitnet University of Alaska Phone: (907) 474-7569 Fairbanks, AK 99775 Loran: 64.86N 212.16E All of the above is of course personal opinion.