dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) (08/26/88)
Data Pacific has released a new newsletter in the last few days that
deserves a warning. It's full of distortions, half-truths, is misleading,
and contains some flat false information. It's going to confuse a lot
of people, so I'm trying to spread the word.
For instance, the newsletter contains columns from people who no
longer work at dP (most of dP's staff quit in March-April, including me).
It talks of a new tech person, "Mike", who does not exist and who always
has been a pseduonym for Joel when taking tech calls.
More subtly, the newsletter implies that dP is having me look into
a 128K ROM version of the Magic Sac. This is false; I have nothing to do
with Data Pacific (except for one contract job -- version 6.1 of Magic Sac,
in exchange for a LaserWriter). dP (Joel) agreed long ago to stop using
my name to try to sell their products; they've broken their promise.
The newsletter says Dan Moore (dlm@druhi here) "worked overtime"
to produce Mover 1.7. The truth is, Dan did Mover 1.7 for a flat $150 fee
in July. He was paid by check after dropping off the disk; his bank later
told him that Joel *had stopped the check*. In short, dP is selling a version
of Mover 1.7 that they flat stole from Dan.
If you appreciate any of the contributions Dan has made to the ST world,
such as the Twister disk format, Meg-a-minute backup, Protect desk accessory,
and others, you could return him the favor by refusing to buy dP's disk
until they remove Mover 1.7 from it, and letting them know why. Dan's had
a rough month; he broke his hand recently, and is in a cast to his elbow
(any get well cards sent via email would be greatly appreciated), by the way.
In my opinion, Data Pacific is attempting to present an image that things
are as they were during the good days, while selling off as much stock as
possible, with this newsletter -- then they're getting out. How else to
explain them putting Apple's own Switcher and FONT/DA Mover on their
"public domain" disk -- other than dP isn't planning on being around long enough
for Apple to catch them (and rightfully so; Hertzfeld worked hard on Switcher).
I'd like it made clear I have nothing to do with Data Pacific anymore; I answer
dP related questions out of courtesy to my old customers, and nothing more. The
same is true for Dan Moore. The tactics Data Pacific is stooping to, in
my opinion, to milk a little more money from the Magic Sac before folding
up are shoddy in the extreme, and I think it's a shame my name is still
associated with this company. Hence, this note.
As for me, I have a new company, Gadgets By Small, Inc, and we're planning
on releasing our first product (the Spectre 128) on Sept. 16, at the Atari
Glendale Atarifest show. Since dP has broken it's word (again) to give me
access to their customer mailing list, which I built, I can't put out the
word about the Spectre 128 upgrade to the Magic Sac except by the networks.
For the record, and to answer a previous questions, I left Data Pacific
in March of this year, when it became clear that (a) Joel was not going
to honor our agreements, and (b) when I found out the FCC number being
put on the Translator units had been forged, and Joel had no plans to ever
FCC certify the unit. Believe me, I want no part of trying to slip one
past the FCC. (Every Translator unit shipped bears this same false number.)
I wouldn't be party to this; neither would Dan, when he heard. (Thanks
to our friends from Supra for checking the number at the FCC BBS and
telling us what had happened!)
I plan to carry on support of dP buyers with my new company, here and
on other networks, as a courtesy to the people who shelled out money for
the Magic Sac, but via a new company (Gadgets), as well as "push the
envelope" further on Mac emulation with the Spectre 128 product. I don't
want to advertise here on the net publicly; please drop me email privately
if you're interested (hplabs!well!dsmall or dsmall@well); I don't think
the local community would appreciate a few hundred "Yes, please send me info"
notes here in comp.sys.atari.st.
Thanks for reading a rather long note; I plead that I'm used to getting
paid by wordcount <grin>.
-- Thanks, Dave Small
Gadgets by Small, Inc.