vita@daredevil.crd.ge.com (03/02/90)
Probably most of you have heard about Technology Works' deal to get a free copy of FullWrite when you buy 4 megs of RAM. Well, now MacConnection is now selling FullWrite Professional 1.0 for $55, no strings attached. The upgrade to version 1.1 is free when you send in your registration card. One note: it is currently not in stock. MacConnection expects to have it in stock within the next two weeks. I checked ads for most of the other mail-order places, but no one else had such a deal going (not too surprising, since MacConnection is usually a step or two ahead of the competition). Anyone care to speculate as to why Ashton-Tate is apparently allowing some places to unload FWP at such fire-sale prices? Do this indicate that perhaps FWP is perhaps a dead product, and that the long-awaited version 2.0 will never see the light of day? Or maybe that the upgrade will come out someday, but be priced at $395 or something? -- Mark Vita vita@crd.ge.com General Electric CRD ..!uunet!crd.ge.com!vita Schenectady, NY
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (03/02/90)
vita@daredevil.crd.ge.com writes: >Anyone care to speculate as to why Ashton-Tate is apparently allowing >some places to unload FWP at such fire-sale prices? Do this indicate >that perhaps FWP is perhaps a dead product, and that the long-awaited >version 2.0 will never see the light of day? Or maybe that the >upgrade will come out someday, but be priced at $395 or something? Actually, I doubt Ashton-Tate's involved. A better guess is that some distributor or store chain had a bunch of copies gathering dust and decided to sell them off rather than continue holding them in inventory (since inventory costs money to hold, eventually it's cheaper to get rid of something for less than you paid for it than it is to hold on and hope it sells). MacConnection, with its marketing and distribution, has a pretty good chance of taking a slow-moving product and getting it out the door for a cheap price and still make a few bucks on it -- something a regional chain that overbought couldn't do. I only think it's an indication that sales of FWP have stagnated and are probably heading down -- not an indication of anything except Ashtate needs to get its act together on 2.0 before the product turns into another Fullpaint -- it exists, it's being ignored and nobody's really buying it. -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil -- Shelley
changwoo@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Chang P. Woo) (03/02/90)
vita@daredevil.crd.ge.com (Mark Vita) writes: >MacConnection is now selling FullWrite Professional 1.0 for $55, no >strings attached. The upgrade to version 1.1 is free when you send in >your registration card. >I checked ads for most of the other mail-order places, but no one else >had such a deal going (not too surprising, since MacConnection is >usually a step or two ahead of the competition). Actually, it is not true that MacConnection is the only mail order house that carries FWP for $55. One of my roommate just ordered something from MacWarehouse, and according to a flyer attached to the shipment, MacWarehouse has exactly the same deal for FullWrite Professional. I don't know whether they have the products in stock, though. Standard Disclaimers apply. Chang -- Chang P. Woo Chang.P.Woo@dartmouth.EDU (preferred) changwoo@eleazar.dartmouth.EDU
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (03/02/90)
changwoo@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Chang P. Woo) writes: >Actually, it is not true that MacConnection is the only mail order house >that carries FWP for $55. One of my roommate just ordered something from >MacWarehouse, and according to a flyer attached to the shipment, If that's the case, everything I said is probably wrong. If multiple sources are getting loads at firesale prices, it probably is ashtate dumping stock. Hmm. -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil -- Shelley
vita@daredevil.crd.ge.com (Mark F Vita) (03/02/90)
In article <39104@apple.Apple.COM> chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >Actually, I doubt Ashton-Tate's involved. A better guess is that some >distributor or store chain had a bunch of copies gathering dust and decided >to sell them off rather than continue holding them in inventory >... I think you're right. I called Ashton-Tate to see if I could pry any information out of them. They said they know nothing about such a promotion. They also had nothing to say about the 2.0 upgrade :-(. >I only think it's an indication that sales of FWP have stagnated and are >probably heading down -- not an indication of anything except Ashtate needs >to get its act together on 2.0 before the product turns into another >Fullpaint -- it exists, it's being ignored and nobody's really buying it. Yes indeed. Given the amount of dollars they've sunk into 2.0 (I know someone who knows someone who worked for many months on the new text editing engine), it would seem that they need to get 2.0 out the door if only to recoup their development costs. I still think FWP is a product with great potential, which could become a major force in the Mac WP market if only Ashton-Tate would do a slightly less inept job of supporting the product. I still despise Microsoft Word (despite the nifty table editor), and MacWrite II, which I like a lot, just doesn't have the feature set to make it a match for FWP. >Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] -- Mark Vita vita@crd.ge.com General Electric CRD ..!uunet!crd.ge.com!vita Schenectady, NY
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (03/03/90)
vita@daredevil.crd.ge.com (Mark F Vita) writes: >They also had nothing to say about the 2.0 upgrade :-(. At one point, I was supposed to be on the beta team, but I have no idea if that's still true -- that was before (a) their reorgs of the mac development team, (b) the product manager going on to toehr things, and (c) probably half a dozen other delays, changes and shifts. I'd been told to expect beta to start last december for an april ship. I've heard NOTHING from anyone about any betas getting out, so I'm assuming they haven't shipped, which makes April an impossibility unless they push it out the door quickly (and likely buggy, considering the sheer number of changes rumored). Which shouldn't be surprising -- when FWP 1.0 finally shipped, AT originally said they planned on a release every six months or so. Then 1.1 was announced for december and 2.0 for sometime the next spring. Then 1.1 finally released in late spring and was mailed in early summer (to me) and 2.0 slipped to 'later'. Now it's much later, and.... If 2.0 isn't announced at macworld in April, I'd worry about whether it'll ever be announced. If it isn't announced by the end of 1990, it never will be. Or if it is, nobody will care (will all users of Microsoft file 1.0 who upgraded to 2.0 when it was release 35 years later please raise your hands? Both of you?) -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil -- Shelley
jimvons@ashtate (Jim von Schmacht) (03/06/90)
To reinterate something which has been on numerous press releases, Ashton Tate
remains committed to the Macintosh as a viable platform for it's software. One
whould also note that there is new theme behind all development at Ashton Tate:
It goes out when it's READY. I cannot comment about upper managements goals
for the other than that the above statements aren't just press release fodder.
The Macintosh is a viable business platform, and we MUST release QUALITY
products. This is what we, the employees of Ashton Tate, believe.
--
Jim von Schmacht Senior Member, Project Test Staff Ashton Tate Corporation
Disclaimer: Standard Issue
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"It isn't the years - it's the mileage" -Indiana Jonesjimvons@ashtate (Jim von Schmacht) (03/07/90)
Can't answer for the past, Chuq, only for the future. The Mac is still
considered a viable platform for dBASE. A fully dBASE IV compatible version
would be nice...unfortunately I only get the scoop for the PC side, and can't
comment on NCPC's (N. Cal Prod Ctr) intent (and couldn't if I did). We have
learned from the past, that much I can say...
--
Jim von Schmacht Senior Member, Project Test Staff Ashton Tate Corporation
Disclaimer: Standard Issue
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"It isn't the years - it's the mileage" -Indiana Jones