Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252) (10/26/89)
The American 'magazine' Computer Shopper (November 9, 1989), arrived
at the racks of our university with either the most unbalanced intro
sub headlines or maybe the most truthful. I've been trying to avoid
the usual "What's wrong, what's right" discussion about Atari, but this
magazine worked me up.
Here are some quotes:
FRONT COVER:
O PORTFOLIO
Can an MS-DOS Handheld Save Atari Corporation?
~~~~
PAGE FOUR:
O (color picture of the Portfolio)
O "It's true--while not everything in the computer world is from Kansas,
it is all getting smaller. Witness Portfolio, Atari's MS-DOS
Munchkin. The company is clearly out to grab some of the market share
of Sharp's Wizard, but this yellow brick road may or may not lead Atari
to riches in the Emerald City. Is this MS-DOS "compatible" handheld
worth the bucks, or should we toss it to the flying monkeys?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is this responsible journalism, especially for the lead-in intros???
I should think not. GRRRR!
The article in the journal is remarkably balanced and gives a fairly
nice review, indeed, it is quite balanced. Although I'm amazed at the
sudden rush to buy the Portfolio, especially when the Toshiba 1000 is
being offered for a price not much more--and one gets a full sized
keyboard and 3 1/2" floppy drive, Computer Shopper is taking a very
unfair slap at the machine in the headlines and treating it nicely in
the text body. Give the Portfolio a chance to try the market, for
crying out loud...
On the other hand, maybe Computer Shopper is revealing a deeper
problem. Perhaps the sub headlines demonstrate how Atari U.S.A. is
*really* seen by others in the U.S. Maybe the distressed developers
and puzzled users of Atari U.S.A. have a voice in this slip of the
journalistic tongue. ---just my opinion, folks. It is amazing what
can pull my string. I love my ST but am tired of being defensive of
it when in the computer crowd, i.e., "I've never head of an ST... I
thought Atari was bankrupt... ST's? You mean XT, as in the PC, right?"
Ok, flame off. It is just that the Computer Shopper sort of
raised my blood pressure and this net was my outlet.
Also, when I say "ATARI", I'm not directing anything towards
any of the kind and probably overworked Atari technicians and
engineers who take the heat on this net.... 'nuff said!
Larry Rymal: |East Texas Atari 68NNNers| <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>