LAVITSKY@RUTGERS.ARPA (Eric) (07/24/85)
"Our power of imagination makes us infinite..." - Commodore/Amiga 1985 Never in my entire life have I been left so totally awestruck and speechless as I was tonight at the launch of the Commodore Amiga PC. This article will not be an attempt to describe the machines capabilities, those must be seen (and heard) to be fully appreciated. I will try to convey the image Commodore tried to present along with what I feel to be a very strong commitment to continued quality support and innovation. The evening at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater started off rather slowly (it took a while to let the guests enter.). There wasn't much technical talk over cocktails, but I did get a chance to meet with some of the top Commodore/Amiga people (very exciting). At 6:30 they opened the theater doors and people quietly shuffled in not quite knowing what to expect. On the stage were musicians playing an unfamiliar piece, one that would later be reproduced perfectly at the close of the demonstration by the Amiga. The lights dimmed and a pleasant laser light show filled the screen followed by the slogan about imagination. We were introduced to Commodores Chairman and President and finally to the star of the show, the Amiga. The presentation was done using three machines, each displayed in high quality on large projection screens above the stage. The chief engineer responsible for the Amiga (darn, I can't remember his name) was the host for the demo. We were first introduced to the operating system and it's different levels. -------
jss@sjuvax.UUCP (J. Shapiro) (07/26/85)
> I will try to convey the image Commodore tried to > present along with what I feel to be a very strong commitment to > continued quality support and innovation. Commodore's support has traditionally been cruddy. They have a nasty habit of running support through their dealers, making their dealers cover all warrantee jobs whether purchased at that stor or not, making the dealer cover two way shipping, and selling the same products to Major toy stores such that the big stores can price them lower than the dealer cost. I was once a Commodore dealer, I know. I would be very leary of making claims about Commodore's support until two things have happened: 1) they have demonstrated it with more than words. 2) they have come to understand that dealers don't like to be screwed. I would think that commodore is going to have a major marketing problem in light of their past failure to deliver on their commitments. Jonathan S. Shapiro
eric@topaz.ARPA (Eric Lavitsky) (07/27/85)
>> I will try to convey the image Commodore tried to >> present along with what I feel to be a very strong commitment to >> continued quality support and innovation. >Commodore's support has traditionally been cruddy. They have a nasty habit >of running support through their dealers, making their dealers cover >all warrantee jobs whether purchased at that stor or not, making the >dealer cover two way shipping, and selling the same products to >Major toy stores such that the big stores can price them lower than the >dealer cost. I was once a Commodore dealer, I know. >... >Jonathan S. Shapiro Hi, You are speaking of the *old* Commodore which was run by Jack Tramiel. Commodore has since totally restructured. It's presdient, Thomas J. Rattigan was the head of Pepsico's international marketing division. He knows marketing as do the Amiga personell. Commodore is going *only* for the computer specialty stores at first (The Computer Factory has already signed up) and is guaranteeing a minimum 30% profit margin on all machines. Most people are still skeptical, I think by Christmas you will see that Commodore really intends to do it right this time. Eric -- ARPA: LAVITSKY@RUTGERS UUCP: ...{harvard,seismo,ut-sally,sri-iu,ihnp4}!topaz!eric SNAIL: 16 Oak St., Flr 2 New Brunswick, NJ 08903