allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) (05/01/89)
I'm fairly new to the ST realm (6 mos) and after aquiring a 520 ST,
40 meg HD, modem, memory upgrade, and gobs of software, I keep hearing that
atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'!
What is this game machine?
Is my $2,000+ investment (no drop in the bucket for most) for naught?
Will the already minimal support I get going to be non-existant?
Should I have bought an Amiga?
I bought my system especially for development work geared toward the home
market,
Will this market disappear? (did it ever exist?)
I had a hard time deciding between the ST and the Amiga. I picked the ST
because I thought it had a bright future. Now I'm afraid I was wrong. c60c-3ds@e260-3c.berkeley.edu (John Kawakami) (05/02/89)
In article <602@greens.UUCP> allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) writes: > I'm fairly new to the ST realm (6 mos) and after aquiring a 520 ST, > 40 meg HD, modem, memory upgrade, and gobs of software, I keep hearing that > atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'! > Yeah, what is this game machine?!?! Atari won't drop the ST line. They can't be THAT stupid:-) Besides, as hot as video games are, neither the ST nor Amiga will be able to be the hot next video game. They are far too expensive. And the ST is probably doing well. How else would they show a profit, from the XEGS? The 7800? Licensing the Fuji logo? > [some questions deleted. I haven't the answer]> > I bought my system especially for development work geared toward the home > market, > Will this market disappear? (did it ever exist?) I think the home market for a VCR programming kit is there:-] Other than that, I can't think of any "home" applications I use my machine for. Plenty of comp-sci, school, game, hobby, art, music, tutorial, lab, and data applications come to mind, but no home applications. You have to develop for a niche. > > I had a hard time deciding between the ST and the Amiga. I picked the ST > because I thought it had a bright future. Now I'm afraid I was wrong. The future of any machine is as bright as you make it. John Kawakami c60c-3ds@web.berkeley.edu
rjung@nunki.usc.edu (Robert allen Jung) (05/03/89)
In article <602@greens.UUCP> allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) writes: > I'm fairly new to the ST realm (6 mos) and after aquiring a 520 ST, > 40 meg HD, modem, memory upgrade, and gobs of software, I keep hearing that > atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'! > What is this game machine? Oh brother. To clear the air,there are a bunch of UNCOMFIRMED rumors/speculations/guesses floating around the Atari community, and it goes something like this: 1. Atari wants to release a "Mega 1" ST computer this fall. Basically, this would be a 1040ST in a Mega body. 2. Atari will stop producing the 520 and 1040 ST's. See #1. 3. Then, Atari will release a "Delux home game system" (aka Nintendo/Sega), which will run Atari ST software. It's still an ST, but marketed differently. Given the amount of European ST Game software, this might not be a bad move. >Is my $2,000+ investment (no drop in the bucket for most) for naught? What, the Atari ST isn't going away any time soon. It's all a marketing RUMOR at best. But if you're paranoid, I'll take your equipment off your hands for a mere $20. B-) >Will the already minimal support I get going to be non-existant? If you have a support problem, talk to either the net.Atari.people here, or to Sig Hartmann the next time he comes by. He seemed really serious about resolving support gripes at the Anaheim World of Atari Show. >Should I have bought an Amiga? Depends. Do you WANT at "game machine"? If so, then you should have, since Commodore is already pushing the Amiga as "a powerful home game system"... B-) > I bought my system especially for development work geared toward the home > market, Will this market disappear? (did it ever exist?) It sure does. Are you looking in the right place? > I had a hard time deciding between the ST and the Amiga. I picked the ST > because I thought it had a bright future. Now I'm afraid I was wrong. You're not wrong, but it sounds like you don't have enough faith just yet. I would have simply sent E-mail on this, but I just dislike random cries of "Arggggggh! My investment is shot! It's Atari's fault!" whenever someone hears a half-baked RUMOR about anything negative towards Atari. Even if the above scenario is true, there's NOTHING in it about Atari vanishing into the void or stopping production/support of all ST computers. If you want to get paranoid, how about the fact that Commodore filed for Chapter 11 (bankrupcy) last month? --R.J. B-) ============================================================================= Disclaimer: This message was written with my authorization # ## # # ## # Mailing address: rjung@nunki.usc.edu ## ## ## (It's easier to just use the reply function, tho) #### ## ####
bmcgough@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (05/03/89)
Stop worrying or see a psychiatrist. -Spieu!
jdutka@wpi.wpi.edu (John Dutka) (05/03/89)
In article <3707@nunki.usc.edu> rjung@nunki.usc.edu (Robert allen Jung) writes: > Depends. Do you WANT at "game machine"? If so, then you should have... Were not going to start THIS again, are we?
cs163aeo@sdcc10.ucsd.EDU (Professor I.R. Gumby) (05/05/89)
In article <602@greens.UUCP>, allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) writes: > > I'm fairly new to the ST realm (6 mos) and after aquiring a 520 ST, > 40 meg HD, modem, memory upgrade, and gobs of software, I keep hearing that > atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'! > > What is this game machine? > > Is my $2,000+ investment (no drop in the bucket for most) for naught? > > Will the already minimal support I get going to be non-existant? > > Should I have bought an Amiga? > > I bought my system especially for development work geared toward the home > market, > Will this market disappear? (did it ever exist?) > > I had a hard time deciding between the ST and the Amiga. I picked the ST > because I thought it had a bright future. Now I'm afraid I was wrong. I don't think so. I'm personally in the market for an ST myself. I plan on networking an ST machine with my IBM AT clone with Minix (see comp.os.minix for details on this UNIX V7 compatable OS). By the way, Minix has been successfully ported to the Atari ST and a lot of the GNU utilities (especially GNU C) work under ST Minix. I hardly think the support is dying out. And there's already work for networking support (both RS-232 and Ethernet), and there is a patch for Minix for networking through the MIDI port. I know that my support is biased in the way that it is oriented towards UNIX compatable operating systems, but it is there. I personally don't care for any other OS other than UNIX myself. I regard MesS-DOS as somewhat of a joke and I don't care for windowing environments. I have gone to great pain and trouble to obtain Minix for my AT clone and keep careful tabs on the ST version. JCA
dnewton@carroll1.UUCP (Dave Newton) (05/05/89)
In article <23888@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> you write: >In article <602@greens.UUCP> allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) writes: >> atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'! >Yeah, what is this game machine?!?! Atari won't drop the ST line. They >can't be THAT stupid:-) Besides, as hot as video games are, neither the They CAN be that stupid, but that's besides the point. From what I've heard, they ARE dropping the ST line, but NOT the Mega. The game machine will be a basic ST without the keyboard (but maybe as an option?) with the same old stuff on it and a dedicated ROM port for games. This system is intended to compete with the new 16-bit video games being put out by Sega and Nintendo and one other company I can't remember. -- "If I cannot create it, I do not understand it" -Richard Feynman David L. Newton (414) 524-7465 dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu =8-) (smiley w/ a mohawk) (414) 524-7343 uunet!marque!carroll1!dnewton
ajy2208%ritcv@cs.rit.edu (05/05/89)
If Atari is not dropping the Mega line then they are NOT dropping the ST. Saying 'Mega' is short for saying 'MEGA ST[2/4]'. The Mega's are just as much an ST (if not more.. :) than the 520/1040ST. Is this not like Commodore dropping the Amiga 1000 for the 500 and 2000? Or Atari dropping the XL line for the XE line? I have also heard (boy, we hear a lot of rumours on this net!) that Atari is coming out with a Mega ST1, which will 'replace' the 1040ST. No, they won't make a Mega .5 (to replace the 520.. :) Of course, it would be nice if Atari offers 520/1040 owners an upgrade path to a Mega ST! But they didn't offer one from the XL -> XE (but here we are talking about $150 for a new machine as opposed to $1500!). Would anyone from Atari care to comment on exactly what is going on? __________________________________________________________________ ** ** ** | Albert Yarusso | Rochester Institute of Technology | ** ** ** | ajy2208@ritvax.bitnet | Computer Science (Don't use a Sun too | ** ** ** | ajy2208.ritcv.rit.edu | long -- you might get a Sunburn). | ** ** ** | "God does not play dice with the universe." -- Albert Einstein | ** ** ** |________________________________________________________________| Atari Rules!
caromero@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (C. Antonio Romero) (05/06/89)
In article <408@carroll1.UUCP> dnewton@carroll1.UUCP (Dave Newton) writes: )In article <23888@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> you write: )>In article <602@greens.UUCP> allegro@sunpix.UUCP ( SunNCAA) writes: )>> atari will soon drop the ST line in favor of a 'GAME MACHINE'! )>Yeah, what is this game machine?!?! Atari won't drop the ST line. )From what I've heard, they ARE dropping the ST line, but NOT the Mega. Isn't this splitting hairs a bit? If they do introduce the Mega 1 that we've been hearing rumors about, the only important change there is in packaging (and maybe in ROM version). Sounds like they're just settling on a uniform machine rather than dropping the ST line altogether. This would probably cut manufacturing costs without changing anything really important or orphaning the ST itself. )The game machine will be a basic ST without the keyboard (but maybe as )an option?) with the same old stuff on it and a dedicated ROM port for )games. This system is intended to compete with the new 16-bit video games )being put out by Sega and Nintendo and one other company I can't remember. Sounds like a reasonable business move to me... One thing I'm surprised no one's brought up yet: Has it occurred to anyone else that the (rumored) STacey plus a Spectre GCR (if it's not too clumsy to be portable) would solve the portable Macintosh problem at an incredible price, and drive Atari sales through the roof (if the supply of Mac ROMs doesn't dry up)? Maybe this is part of Atari's motivation in moving to a portable machine... -Antonio Romero romero@confidence.princeton.edu
caromero@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (C. Antonio Romero) (05/06/89)
In article <1099@cs.rit.edu> ajy2208.ritcv.rit.edu (Albert Yarusso) writes: >I have also heard (boy, we hear a lot of rumours on this net!) that Atari >is coming out with a Mega ST1, which will 'replace' the 1040ST. No, they >won't make a Mega .5 (to replace the 520.. :) No, it won't be a Mega .5... as part of Atari's attempt to improve their image in the business marketplace, they will follow IBM's lead and call the replacement for the 520 ST the Mega/2. They will also be releasing a new operating system for it, called TOS/2... ;) -Antonio Romero romero@confidence.princeton.edu
Xorg@cup.portal.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) (05/06/89)
Also, a company that has been in the Fortune 500 for years is not very likely to simply vanish overnight! And Atari went from 483 to 400 last year - a very nice and very healthy jump. Peter Szymonik Xorg@cup.portal.com
rjung@nunki.usc.edu (Robert allen Jung) (05/07/89)
In article <18006@cup.portal.com> Xorg@cup.portal.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) writes: >Also, a company that has been in the Fortune 500 for years is >not very likely to simply vanish overnight! And Atari went >from 483 to 400 last year - a very nice and very healthy jump. Just a tangental footnote here: The local _Los Angeles Times_ recently compiled a list of "Top 100 Companies in California". Of interest to Atarians was the part that read: 16. Apple Computers 17. Seagate 18. Atari Corp. Not bad, I think. --R.J. B-) ============================================================================= Disclaimer: This message was written with my authorization # ## # # ## # Mailing address: rjung@nunki.usc.edu ## ## ## (It's easier to just use the reply function, tho) #### ## ####
I0908@DKAFHS1.BITNET (05/08/89)
Date: 08 May 1989, 12:41:38 SET From: Cornelius Caesar BITNET / EARN: I0908 at DKAFHS1 To: info-atari16 at score.stanford.edu I have already seen the Mega ST 1 in a store here in Germany. (It is about DM 200,- more expensive than the 1040.) The 520 STFM and 1040 STFM are still being sold. Cornelius Caesar Karlsruhe, West Germany