davidli@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (Dave Meile) (11/17/89)
In article <24111@cup.portal.com> Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes: >In the "Real World (tm)", there are things known as Warranties of >Merchantability and Fittness for Purpose. There are also things known >as Truth in Advertising, and Fraud. > >If Greg Wageman had been one of the people who had bought an Atari ST >based on the promises of the Chief Executive Officer of the company, I'm >willing to wager he too would be more than a little upset when the >implied contract was broken. I have _never_ personally seen an advertisement from Atari which promised that the 1040ST would have a blitter chip. Moreover, I have _never_ personally heard the CEO of Atari state that a blitter chip would be provided to all 1040ST owners. I _have_ read numerous rumours over the past 3 years, posted by any number of people, NONE of whom were officially connected with Atari, to the effect that this or that piece of hardware/software was "coming soon" from Atari. It seems to sell magazines ... I note that the PRELIMINARY review of the 1040ST in Byte magazine _does_ include mention of a blitter chip -- the authors also noted the empty spot on the motherboard for the RF-modulator. I did not purchase a 1040ST based on the review (which, as Byte magazine editors were so careful to point out, was _preliminary_, ie. subject to change). >As far as technical details, the "blitter upgrade" had been promised by >many different Atari Corp people over a span of several years. It was not >something that a stupid executive just happened to blurt out on a TV >"talk show". There had been upgrades/daughter boards/motherboard swaps >discussed by Atari for years. Big question -- was this during the Neil "two weeks" Harris reign of error? And do you have proof that such "promises" were official Atari Corporation press releases, or were they off-the-cuff remarks made in response to questions about the blitter chip to the effect "we're working on it"? Did you get a definite release date and a written committment beyond "we're working on it"? Names, dates and places, please. I'm pretty tired of hearing about "nameless" officials at Atari who did this or that. If you have evidence, present it, otherwise cease and desist. > This created an expectation of performance >for those who invested in Atari equipment. The "expectation" has been built by countless ST owners passing numerous rumours off as fact. > Atari obviously expected that >a blitter equipped "vented case" 1040 would pass FCC certification because >they redesigned the motherboard with a blitter socket position. "Do It >Yourself" blitter upgrades are possible *if* you have the right motherboard. >That leaves us with the question of why Atari didn't do it themselves... Perhaps they took it to the FCC and it _wasn't_ certified? Without any more information than you've provided, that's the first conclusion that I'd come up with, not the one you seem to prefer -- "it was a marketing scam". >Sorry if I've exceeded my message allowance by posting this reply, and I'm >further sorry if anyone reading this is annoyed that it's not an Atari >cheerleader message. I don't much care about a blitter chip and I don't >plan to say anything more about the subject. Atari Corp lied to their >customers, and that annoys *me* They didn't lie to _me_. I'm a customer. Ergo, your assertion is false, or needs to be modified. But then, I'm the sort of person who purchases a computer for what it can do _NOW_, not what some magazine or well-meaning owner _thinks_ should be available in the future. Anyone who purchases a computer for what they _think_ might be available in the future is foolish. >I *would* be interested to see what would happen if a group of dissatisfied >Atari customers decided to challenge Atari in court over this issue. Personally, I don't believe they'd have a leg to stand on. Your evidence is hearsay, the technical specifications as released by Atari are not false, and there are any number of ST-oriented magazine articles (which do NOT quote Atari officials) which clearly label some of the things you believe were promised as "rumor" ... Atari cannot control rumor except to state, as they have over the last few years, "we will announce no new product before its time". By the way -- showing something at COMDEX does _not_ constitute an announcement unless they start distributing technical specifications, as Atari did in Germany with the TT. -- David Paschall-Zimbel