jrc@ritcv.UUCP (James R. Carbin) (02/15/85)
Headline on Page D4 of The New York Times; Tuesday, February 12, 1985 -
"Product Abandoned by Digital" - "Rainbow Plant Being Refitted" - excerpt
from article included: "...[DEC] conceded yesterday that it has ceased
production of its Rainbow personal computer."
In the Wall Street Journal on page 63; Wednesday, February 13, 1985 -
"Digital Equipment fell 4 7/8 to 117 with nearly 1.5 million shares
changing hands. The company confirmed that it had stopped production
of the Rainbow personal computer line. The company said it objected to
'abandon' the line, but some market participants persisted in that
interpretation."
A call to the Rochester Marketing Office of DEC resulted in a statement that
they knew nothing about the situation, but hoped to have clarification within
a few days.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that at DEC-World 85 held in Boston in
December, a representative from VenturCom Inc. indicated that a Rainbow
version of Venix would be released soon.
In addition, DEC just offered to a number of Rainbow owners the opportunity
to "trade up" some of their present hardware. Hardly seems very ethical if
DEC had indeed already decided to "abandon" the line.
Just what is going on? Statements like, "DEC still supports PDP-8's are
hardly encouraging." At what cost does DEC continue to support DPD-8's?
Certainly with the number of DEC people on the net, someone should be able
to shed a little more light on this situation. I am sure that many Rainbow
owners would like to know.
as ever,
j.r. {allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!jrc
p.s. It is estimated that approximately 1,500 DEC Rainbows are owned by
either the Institute, faculty, staff, or students at R.I.T. I
wonder if DEC realizes the impact of not fully disclosing their
intent with regard to their reputation. hummel@csd2.UUCP (Robert Hummel) (02/15/85)
> ... someone should be able > to shed a little more light on this situation. I am sure that many Rainbow > owners would like to know. The word I get from DEC sources is that production of the Rainbow IN THE U.S. is over, but that they will be made in the Far East. The model line is not being discontinued, just the plant that made them here. Panic over. Tony Movshon (using a friend's account) uucp: {seismo|ihnp4|allegra}!cmcl2!hipl!tony arpa: hipl!tony@nyu-cmcl2
campbell%DECWRL@maynard.UUCP (02/22/85)
Here's the real scoop, as near as I can tell (I am leaving out a tiny bit of not very relevant company confidential stuff). I know what I am talking about; I work for DEC, in their Eastern Research Lab, until Friday, at which point I'm leaving to start my own software company. I have some good friends in the Rainbow group, and I own two Rainbows outright. I think DEC has done little more than bungle the P.R. aspects of this whole thing. DEC needs manufacturing space for some soon-to-be-announced products. I can't say what they are, but I can say they're NOT replacements for the Rainbow, so don't worry about the Rainbow being superseded. The new products are hot, will be popular, and will demand much manufacturing space. So DEC has accumulated (by my calculation) a 20-month supply of Rainbows, and shut the plant down to convert to the new product. DEC has also stated that when the inventory becomes depleted it will begin building Rainbows in one of its Far East plants. DEC is developing software products for the Rainbow. I can't be specific, but look for some major announcements sometime during the next few months. In addition, VENIX is available NOW for the Rainbow directly from VenturCom (or through their distributor, UniSource). I am a beta test site for the product; I've been running it for two months; and I love it! Sure beats the hell out of MS-DOS. Bottom line: I'm keeping my Rainbows. I like them. If you thought two weeks ago that Rainbows were Good Things, I don't think any of the recent news should change that opinion. There are good things and bad things about the Rainbow, but to me, both as a Rainbow owner and soon to be an independent software producer, last week's news hasn't really changed anything. - Larry Campbell
pvk@ixn5f.UUCP (Patrick Kauffold) (03/05/85)
If you are the owner of a Rainbow, I sympathize at this point. I expect that DEC's current pronouncements are strictly a holding action until they can liquidate their current stocks. As for support, within 6 months there won't be anyone at DEC you can contact within your natural lifetime that will know anything useful about the Rainbow.