euloth@dalcsug.UUCP (George Seto) (04/23/88)
I was noticing some recent postings which indicated Turbo C being
test marketed in Europe. I found this on a New York BBS as an uploaded
text file.
Date: Fri Mar 18, 1988 4:34 pm EST
From: Michael Gaitor / MCI ID: 271-0310
TO: Philippe Kahn / MCI ID: 227-2940 (Receipt)
CC: * Michael Gaitor / MCI ID: 271-0310 (Print)
Subject: Taking Care of the Future...
Message-Id: 44880318213444/0002710310N23EM
18 March 1988
Philippe,
I read with great interest your "talk" about "taking care of the future"
in the Jan/Feb issue of Turbo Technix. It sounded rational and made sense to
me, except for the (not so) small detail of conviction, or rather, the lack
thereof. You talk about innovation, about taking chances, about not waiting
for others to "make that change" (as Michael has implored us), about leading
the way. As regards these very issues, I'd like to call your attention to
something that is personally important to me and I'm sure to many others -
the Atari ST market.
It seems to me that the sole trouble with the ST market is that no major
player has had the balls to commit to a solid product to support it. Surely
the market isn't so small that absolutely no profit could be made, just not
outrageously large profit. Yet, this is the very concept you discussed in
your article. I quote: "If someone makes the first move, we'll get started.
If everyone makes the first move, watch out!"
Yes, I know about WordPerfect. So far, though, that product has been
less than satisfactory as a "solid" piece of work, by WordPerfect's own
admission. Anyway, a single word-processing application is not enough to
support an entire market. Whether you choose to believe it or not, a good,
strong version of Turbo Pascal and the Toolboxes would do much more for the
ST than the best version of WordPerfect ever could. You've got a product
which has become a standard unto itself, with which other Pascals strive for
compatibility, which is known for its quality of documentation (a far from
universal attribute), and very importantly, a product which is used to
create other products. Especially now with the enhancements offered in
version 4.0, I believe that Borland is the company that could almost
single-handedly "validate" the ST as a "serious" machine, which it
certainly has the potential to be. Think of the interest and revenue that
would be generated by the Turbo line, the probable influx of Turbo-generated
new programs and the new outlets for third-party support packages. Include
extensions for easy access to the MIDI ports and you've got yet another
sub-market to draw on.
With all of this seemingly self-evident, and in light of your article, I
can't begin to imagine why you turn your back on ST owners. If Borland were
to be successful in the ST market (and how could it help but be?), what do
you think would happen to the market in general? Others (the others you
mentioned not waiting for) would then begin to consider the ST viable, yet
MORE products would appear and all of a sudden the ST is no longer known
primarily for Dungeon Master, good though it may be. Is there something
inherently undesirable about this scenario? Wouldn't it strike your fancy
just the least bit to have been responsible for this occuring? Do you
seriously believe that ST owners wouldn't be ecstatic to be able to buy your
products for their machines? (Running under PC-ditto does not give us access
to the inherent qualities of our machine that prompted us to buy it in the
first place.) Do you really think you wouldn't make any money? (Let's be
serious...)
Major companies won't enter the marketplace because there's no one else
there and you're as guilty of that as the rest. Why not show some of that
foresight, daring and leadership you were talking about and get the ball
rolling? I'd be willing to guess there's much less risk involved than people
tend to think.
Command (or MENU or EXIT): NEXT
Date: Fri Mar 18, 1988 8:50 pm EST
From: Philippe Kahn / MCI ID: 227-2940
TO: * Michael Gaitor / MCI ID: 271-0310
Subject: RE: Taking Care of the Future...
Thanks and we are presently considering some things with the ST.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well? What do you think?
--
*******************************************************************************
* euloth@dalcsug.uucp || Disclaimer: All opinions are my own unless other- *
* /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ || wise noted. *
****AKA: Atari Nut*************************************************************NETOPRHM@NCSUVM.BITNET (Hal Meeks) (04/26/88)
> Well? What do you think?
Ask me again when the '20 machine comes to market.....
--hal