greg@bilbo (Greg Wageman) (09/30/88)
In article <8809282300.AA22339@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <FTDDR@ALASKA.BITNET> writes: >How rumors start > [ Heart-wrenching tale of student unable to find an Atari, deleted ] >Has Atari given any thought to trying to soothe their mail order distributors? >Those guys have the potential for spreading the doom and gloom over a vast >geographical area...and it sounds like some of them intend to do just that. I really feel sorry for Atari, sometimes. No matter *what* they do, they catch flames. Many moons ago it was noted that when you bought a computer via discount mail-order, you got what you paid for (a computer), and that was it. No support, no hands-on demos, no contact with other users. On the other hand, when you buy from a dealer, that dealer can demo software for you, repair the machine in-house (usually), give you pointers and help, and you can meet other users in their store. For all of this, you pay a higher price than mail-order. You can see the latest whizz-bang frob, watch somebody get blown away by the latest hot new flight-simulator dungeon arcade adventure game, or find out if the latest word processor program will really print Old High German in genuine gothic lettering. With mail-order, you pays your money and you takes yer chances. Atari wisely, in my opinion, decided that if they were going to ever establish the ST as a "serious" computer (on par with the Mac and the IBM PC), they had to give dealers an incentive to carry and *support* their machines. What was the dealers' main gripe? "We're being undersold by mailorder!" Solution? Stop selling STs to mail-order-only suppliers. It was a logical, carefully considered business decision. Think about it. A company does not arbitrarily cut off sales outlets for its products. It has an obligation to its stockholders to try to make a profit. They are trying hard to make a distintion between Atari game machines, sold by mail order and in department stores everywhere, and the ST line, now sold only by "qualified computer dealers". Atari needs now to get the word out that the ST is "Available at your local Atari Computer Dealer". It is the right move. I only hope it was made at the right time. >On the upside, word is that the university discount prices of macs are about >to take a jump upwards, which will make STs look better. On the downside, >IBM, Toshiba, and Zenith are now offering discounts here, and they have some >good deals. I don't know what the discount looks like on a Mac, but given what it takes to make the Mac a usable computer (it *requires* a second drive), I couldn't touch one for less than $2000, and that's monochrome-only. I have only $1500 invested in my ST hardware, with both color and mono, and two double-sided floppy drives. I could add a hard disc for about $700, but I feel no need to; the ST is usable with two double-sided floppies. I couldn't touch a PC for less than $4000, nor would I want to. No, price isn't really the issue here; marketing and image is the issue. If Atari is going to make inroads into the business mainstream, they are going to have to grow out of their games/ hobbyist/hacker machine image. Unfortunately when they do this, they will leave some of us behind. Greg Wageman ARPA: greg%sentry@spar.slb.com Schlumberger Technologies BIX: gwage 1601 Technology Drive CIS: 74016,352 San Jose, CA 95110 GEnie: GWAGEMAN (408) 437-5198 UUCP: ...!decwrl!spar!sentry!greg ------------------ Opinions expressed herein are solely the responsibility of the author.