K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET (06/17/87)
A question for Atari: Is there an official release date for the Mega-ST?
(The shops here (the more realistic ones) say 'Perhaps in half a year or so,
if we're lucky').
BTW: does anybody still have a copy of my (in)famous Atari flame?
I'd like to do a mid-year summary of what I predicted and what
has really happend and I don't have my original letter anymore.
Simon Poole
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNETdclemans@mntgfx.MENTOR.COM (Dave Clemans) (06/18/87)
People on Compuserve have stated that Mega-ST's have been on sale in England for a while (a month or more?); though these first units do not have blitter chips. The Atari distributor for the Pacific Northwest area of the US has been promised a limited shipment of saleable Mega's by the end of June (with a hint that that might mean June 29 or June 30); his understanding is that those will have blitters. Mega-ST's supposedly shipped to some developers in the past week. dgc
src@xanth.UUCP (06/19/87)
In article <8706170944.AA19262@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET writes: >A question for Atari: Is there an official release date for the Mega-ST? > > Simon Poole > K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET For what it's worth, the latest word from the Ministry of Release Dates, as posted on GENet, Is that the Mega ST will released at the far end of August, and may likely be held over into September. The problem is not with the Megas, which are purportedly finished and bug-free (ha ha), but with the laser printer. To get instant attention from the desktop publishing biz, Atari wants to introduce BOTH machines at the same time. In fact, the release for the Atari PC has been pushed to September, if even then. Woe be unto retailers, who now have stocks of 1040 STs moldering because of all the waiting for the Megas going on, ad infinitum! In case you didn't get to see it over there, Mr. Harris himself posted mail to this group recently, and revealed that the 1-Meg Mega will very likely NOT be produced--just the 2 and 4 Meg versions. An aside to Simon Poole--> Congrats and much thanks for Uniterm! I and a few other STers in this area are great fans of yours. _______________________________________________________________________________ src.xanth.UUCP Scott R. Chilcote
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET (06/20/87)
To expand a bit further on my question about the an 'official' release
date for the Mega-ST's, just a few more remarks:
There has been a lot of conflicting information (rumours) about the
availabilty of the Mega-ST's, some claim they are already being sold
in the UK, some that it can only be days before they are going to be
sold in the US, some that they will be sold without blitter (this is
from Data Becker which are normally very well informed, they knew
about the Atari PC two months before it was officially annouced),
some that they have been delayed to the end of the year so that they
can be sold together with the laser printer. The reason that I would
like an official statement is that our department is (was) going to buy
another lot of ST's as terminals (we already have 20). If we could
really count on Mega-ST's being available in a time span < two months
we would probably wait and give them a try, as the situation presents
itsself now, I think we would be better off looking at alternatives.
Anyway, some more (possibly not so serious) news from German magazines:
-the new 'blitter ROM's' where 'tested' by a representative
of the technical departement of Atari Germany in '68'000er'
and in another mag: supposedly RTS/CTS has been fixed and
a few other things improved, the man claimed that they will
run without changes in a 1040 (something Atari US has always
refused to comment about on this net).
-Basic haters (I'm one too :-)) rejoice, 'Data Welt' had two
reports on the 'new' ST-Basic with result: its just as bad
as the old version (at least something Atari does right).
-as I mentioned before, 'Data Welt' claims that the Mega-ST's
will be supplied without blitters, which will not be available
before the end of the year according to the report. Ah well,
why should Atari deprave the rest of the industry of the best
joke it has? (It could naturally be replaced by 'GDOS'.)
Simon Poole
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNETneil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) (06/22/87)
In article <1342@xanth.UUCP>, src@xanth.UUCP (Scott R. Chilcote) writes: > >A question for Atari: Is there an official release date for the Mega-ST? > > Simon Poole > For what it's worth, the latest word from the Ministry of Release Dates, > as posted on GENet, Is that the Mega ST will released at the far end of August, > and may likely be held over into September. The problem is not with the Megas, > which are purportedly finished and bug-free (ha ha), but with the laser > printer. To get instant attention from the desktop publishing biz, Atari wants > to introduce BOTH machines at the same time. I don't know how these stories get out, I swear. The Mega ST release is imminent. We see no reason to wait on the laser printers to get the Megas out the door. The SLM804 (laser printer) will be ready well in advance of September. Sheesh! -- --->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation UUCP: ...{hoptoad, lll-lcc, pyramid, imagen, sun}!atari!neil GEnie: NHARRIS/ WELL: neil / BIX: neilharris / Delphi: NEILHARRIS CIS: 70007,1135 / Atari BBS 408-745-5308 / Usually the OFFICIAL Atari opinion
sansom@trwrb.UUCP (Richard Sansom) (06/23/87)
In article <762@atari.UUCP> neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) writes: >The Mega ST release is imminent. We see no reason to wait on the laser >printers to get the Megas out the door. The SLM804 (laser printer) will be >ready well in advance of September. Neil, can you give us the name of some dealers who are going to be selling the Megas? I've not been able to find anyone who thinks they (the Megas) will be available before September - they can't even give me a price yet. I then tried to order one directly from Atari (can you say "retail prices"?) but it turns out that Atari won't sell me one directly. There have been no nasty remarks in this message - I'd really appreciate your help. -Rich -- /////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ /// Richard E. Sansom TRW Electronics & Defense Sector \\\ \\\ {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!trwrb!sansom Redondo Beach, CA /// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
src@xanth.UUCP (Scott R. Chilcote) (06/24/87)
In article <762@atari.UUCP> neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) writes: > > I don't know how these stories get out. > >--->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that only one of every forty or so messages directed at Atari induces a response, and in this this case you ignored the principal question in order to sling mud at an admittedly misinformed reply. My information came directly from an Atari distributor who merchandises a local retail store where I work. If and when you choose to provide your distributors with correct information, then as an Atari salesperson I will accurately relay it to the public. Your tolerance for lesser mortals is humbly appreciated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: I said it, so I'll take the rap! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- src@xanth.UUCP Scott Chilcote
oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicarious Oyster) (06/24/87)
In article <762@atari.UUCP> neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) writes: > >I don't know how these stories get out, I swear. ... >Sheesh! >-- >--->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation Probably because some Marketing Communications Director isn't doing a very good job of communicating. :-) Seriously, though, what little info you gave skirted (or just plain left out) other relevant stuff, like presence or absence of blitters, etc. You know what happens to information vacuums-- they're quickly filled with all kinds of garbage. -- - Joel ({allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster) Disclaimer: I disclaim disclamations.
dragon@oliveb.UUCP (Give me a quarter or I'll touch you) (06/25/87)
> In article <762@atari.UUCP> neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) writes: >> >> I don't know how these stories get out. >> >>--->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation > Perhaps these stories come from people at the Atari booth at the World of Atari show? As a matter of fact, each person I asked gave a different date, but all were in consensus when they mentioned that there are only 30 Mega ST 4s in the country... 10 at Atari HQ, and 20 in the warehouse. Any thruth to these allegations? -- MANNERS: Just say no _t_h_a_n_k _y_o_u! Dragon Technology!! {hplabs,ames,sun,etc.}!oliveb!olivej!dragon
dyer@atari.UUCP (Landon Dyer) (06/26/87)
I asked Gary Tramiel whether Atari had shipped any Mega STs. He
said that some had been shipped to and sold in Germany. I don't
know how many have been sold. I don't know if those Megas have
blitters or not.
--
-Landon Dyer, Atari Corporation {sun,amdcad,lll-lcc,imagen}!atari!dyer
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those BUSINESS
of Atari or the AI software that has taken over my brain. IS
Yow! I am waiting for my warranty-expired interrupt! HELLbraner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner) (06/26/87)
[] I am disappointed to hear that the Mega-ST will not be available in the 1-Megabyte version. Although I would love to have 2, 4 or even 64 Megs, I would rather wait till the new 1 Megabit DRAM chips came down in price to about the same (per byte) as the 256Kbit chips. That will only take 6 months or so. The Mega-ST is (supposed to be) easily upgradable, so why force us to buy the fruit before its season? (If somebody needs the RAM _NOW_ they _can_ buy the bigger Megas. I just want the choice.) The rumors have it that Atari don't want to hurt sales of the 1040. I'd say: stop making it, now! Get the Megas out! You'll sell 1-Meg Megas just as well (or better) and make the same money. (If they already have 2^64 1040's in the warehouses then, well, it's a terrible mistake.) - Mosy nite oit
neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) (06/27/87)
In article <1991@trwrb.UUCP>, sansom@trwrb.UUCP (Richard Sansom) writes: > Neil, can you give us the name of some dealers who are going to be selling > the Megas? I've not been able to find anyone who thinks they (the Megas) > will be available before September - they can't even give me a price yet. > I then tried to order one directly from Atari (can you say "retail prices"?) > but it turns out that Atari won't sell me one directly. It's a sticky issue, but the fact is that the list of dealers who are authorized to sell the Mega ST is not yet settled. The systems are not yet available for sale -- we have about 30 Mega ST 4 computers here in the USA, being used strictly for evaluation by our engineers, making sure there are no last-minute assembly line problems. Note: these machines come with real manuals and everything, including the blitter chips. Real machines in the kind of quantity needed for resale should arrive shortly. Another note: the new ROMs do, in fact, work in the current ST's. No word yet on availability of these ROMs for end-users, but developers can obtain them from the Atari developer support department. -- --->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation UUCP: ...{hoptoad, lll-lcc, pyramid, imagen, sun}!atari!neil GEnie: NHARRIS/ WELL: neil / BIX: neilharris / Delphi: NEILHARRIS CIS: 70007,1135 / Atari BBS 408-745-5308 / Usually the OFFICIAL Atari opinion
ralph@ee.brunel.ac.uk (Ralph Mitchell) (06/30/87)
In article <762@atari.UUCP> neil@atari.UUCP (Neil Harris) writes: >> >A question for Atari: Is there an official release date for the Mega-ST? >> > Simon Poole > >The Mega ST release is imminent. We see no reason to wait on the laser -------- Is this another way of saying "Real Soon Now" ?? Does "imminent" refer to a time span less than "It's In The Post" ?? :-) :-) >--->Neil Harris, Director of Marketing Communications, Atari Corporation -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ralph Mitchell | VOICE: +44 895 74000 Ext 2561 Computer Centre | ARPA: ralph%ee.brunel.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa Brunel University | UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!ee.brunel.ac.uk!ralph Uxbridge | JANET: ralph@uk.ac.brunel.ee UB8 3PH | UNITED KINGDOM | "Noli illegitemi carborundum" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=