hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) (03/25/91)
I know this has been rehashed about 10 zillion times, but what
is Newteks plains for the Video Toaster and the Amiga 3000? Do they
plain to release a version for the A3000 or is the A3000T gonna take
care of that?
--
// Jeff Hyche
There can be only one! \\ // Usenet: hychejw@infonode.ingr.com
\X/ Freenet: ap255@po.CWRU.Edumikep@hpmwtd.HP.COM (Mike Powell) (03/26/91)
There is a size AND hardware/software incompatibility for a Toaster in an A3000.... So the A3000T alone will not solve the problem. I talked to a NewTek salesman who said that they were hard at work on a stand-alone Toaster box so that customers won't have to locate/purchase an Amiga... The secret here is that the Toaster box will actually have an Amiga inside... as part of a deal with Commodore. Plans for an A3000 version are still 'in the works' he said. I'm beginning to get the feeling that it MIGHT not happen at all. I'd recommend that all of us A3000 owners either call or write NewTek strongly (but politely) expressing our need for an A3000 version ASAP. If we don't, they MAY decide that there isn't the demand for it! So, head to your phones! -Mike-
passaret@brahe.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti) (03/27/91)
In article <1991Mar25.130057.16108@infonode.ingr.com> hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes: # # I know this has been rehashed about 10 zillion times, but what # is Newteks plains for the Video Toaster and the Amiga 3000? Do they # plain to release a version for the A3000 or is the A3000T gonna take # care of that? Well, I called them yesterday, and this is what happened. NT: "Hello, NewTek Operator, how may I help you?" MM: (Hmmm, this is a promising start, much more professional than they used to be.) "I'd like to speak with someone concerning the Video Toaster." NT: "Are you an individual, an organization, or an educational institution?" MM: (Swallowing any smart-ass comments that rise to my lips) "An individual" NT: "One Moment....." MM: (Hum de dum...) NT2: "Hello, this is ????? (I didn't write down the name, unfortunately) how can I help you?" MM: "I'd like to know what your plans are for the Toaster and the A3000." NT2: "We know that is is a problem and we're working on it." MM: "Can you explain a little further?" NT2: "No, that's all that I can tell you. We will have a solution." MM: "Any idea when?" NT2: "That's all that I can tell you." MM: "You're going to lose you and Commodore a lot of sales if you can't give a better answer than that." NT2: "Look, we're keeping Commodore alive right now, so I don't think thats going to be a problem. Besides, Commodore changed its computers and now everybody expects us to fix OUR hardware." MM: "I was under the impression that you folks didn't follow the design guidelines for video cards" NT2: <click> Bzzzzz MM: (She hung up on me!) (Call them back) NT: "Hello, NewTek Operator, how may I help you?" MM: "Yes, I'd like to speak to whoever manages your Sales and Support people, I've just had a very interesting conversation with one of them that I think he or she should know about" NT: "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that that is not possible. Can I direct your call to another support or sales person?" MM: "No, thank you. I'll take this to paper." NT: "Good day, sir." <click> Bzzzzz All in all, I'm NOT impressed. If I hadn't been at work, and on my lunch hour, I might have pushed a little more. In fact, I may just do that today. In any case, they seem to be saying that they won't say what or when, but there will be a solution someday..... - MM -- passaretti@crd.ge.com {whatever}!crdgw1!brahe!passaret
emmonsl@athena.ecs.csus.edu (L. Scott Emmons) (03/27/91)
In article <17907@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <passaretti@crd.ge.com> writes: > > [...bad experience with calling Newtek...] > >All in all, I'm NOT impressed. If I hadn't been at work, and on my >lunch hour, I might have pushed a little more. In fact, I may just >do that today. In any case, they seem to be saying that they won't >say what or when, but there will be a solution someday..... At least you got a hold of someone! I called and left a message. They never returned my call, so I called back. The operator transfered my call to somewhere, where the phone simply rang for 20 minutes, at which time I gave up and hung up. I guess they really valued my business... L. Scott Emmons --------------- emmons@csus.csus.edu <or> ...[ucbvax]!ucdavis!csus!emmons Packet: kc6nfp@kg6xx.#nocal.ca.usa.na
patrick_meloy@outbound.wimsey.bc.ca (Patrick Meloy) (03/27/91)
While I can sympathise with people who want to know about the 3000 toaster, I have to point out that the people at NewTek are probably hounded several times a day by calls like that. They cannot tell you what plans they have! This isn't just NewTek, its all companies. What they are developing is for them to know and for others to WAIT and see about. I'd be willing to bet that each of the phone-people at NewTek would now gladly go out and sledgehammer all 3000's into itty-bitty pieces because of phone calls just like yours. Don't forget that the voice on the other end of the line is human JUST LIKE YOU and they also get POd when people call up and harrass them. --------------------------------------- | patrick_meloy@outbound.wimsey.bc.ca | | 'The Outbound' BBS Vancouver BC | ---------------------------------------
cug@antares.concordia.ca ( COMPUTER USERS GROUP ) (03/28/91)
In article <1991Mar25.130057.16108@infonode.ingr.com> hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes: >is Newteks plains for the Video Toaster and the Amiga 3000? Do they Our multimedia lab has an A3000 with a toaster inside of it. Our amazing local Amiga dealer found a way. They are called "Maison du Logiciel" and will ship anywhere in North America. Probably the best service and support in all of Canada. Even Newtek has ordered an A3000T from them to see just how they did it. No warantees were voided either. It works just fine. We have 18 MB of RAM in the thing as well... - Stef.
mikep@hpmwtd.HP.COM (Mike Powell) (03/28/91)
Hmmm I have NEVER had any problem getting through to the NewTek folks (with the exception of the Toaster dedicated tech support line). Also, I have NEVER had anyone act in a rude or evasive manner (of course, I was never rude to them either... :-). I have run into the situation where the person I'm speaking to is unable to commit an answer to a question... but that is only natural. Sometimes policy issues are still undecided, so there is no way that I can expect answers to some of my questions... ex: "When will an A3000 Toaster be available....?". My experience is that being professional and polite goes farther... and I always thank then for their time/help (regardless of how helpful they ACTUALLY were...). Especially when I'm using their 800- number. :-) -Mike-
beb@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Brian E. Bradley) (03/29/91)
If the NewTek people didn't want to be hounded by inquiries about the video toaster for the 3000, they shouldn't have advertised so heavily that it would be available in February.... Don't forget it took them three years longer to produce it than they originally promised... All of that cursing aside, though, it is a remarkable product. There is no other product that provides so many useful abilities (if only it had on-board TBC, genlock master, and easy programmability it would be "perfect"!)
rick@ameristar (Rick Spanbauer) (03/29/91)
In article <17907@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <passaretti@crd.ge.com> writes: > >In article <1991Mar25.130057.16108@infonode.ingr.com> >hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes: ># ># I know this has been rehashed about 10 zillion times, but what ># is Newteks plains for the Video Toaster and the Amiga 3000? Do they ># plain to release a version for the A3000 or is the A3000T gonna take ># care of that? >Well, I called them yesterday, and this is what happened. >NT: "Hello, NewTek Operator, how may I help you?" >MM: (Hmmm, this is a promising start, much more professional than > they used to be.) "I'd like to speak with someone concerning the > Video Toaster." >NT: "Are you an individual, an organization, or an educational institution?" >MM: (Swallowing any smart-ass comments that rise to my lips) "An individual" [ transcript of telephone call deleted ] I hope I am not expressing the minority opinion here, but I think Newtek handled your call about as well as _you_ allowed them to. They clearly told you that they had no official position (yet?) on revving their product to A3000. IMO, your preaching to them about the A3000 was surely something they have heard many times. I would say their conservative response to announcing their A3000 plans is simply responsible management, especially given the history of the Toaster itself. Speaking to the opening question, which you had apparently misinterpreted as either belittling or an insult (ie "are you an individual, ..."), I can say that in my dealings with companies large and small, this is hardly uncommon practice. It is often the case, for example, for companies to have separate divisions that sell into education or government markets. It is also that the case that many companies prefer to sell small quantities through distribution channels, or in fact have distribution agreements which prohibit sales of small quantities to individual customers (try buying one chip from a semiconductor house directly). >passaretti@crd.ge.com Rick Spanbauer Ameristar
jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz (John Bickers) (03/29/91)
Quoted from <17907@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> by passaret@brahe.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti):
> Well, I called them yesterday, and this is what happened.
...
> All in all, I'm NOT impressed. If I hadn't been at work, and on my
> lunch hour, I might have pushed a little more. In fact, I may just
Actually, it sounded like you were going out of your way to be
rude. That comment about losing sales seemed like a certain
irritant. I'd hang up on someone who gave me that sort of harassment
where I work.
> - MM
--
*** John Bickers, TAP, NZAmigaUG. jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz ***
*** "Patterns multiplying, re-direct our view" - Devo. ***carson@cs.columbia.edu (Carson Gaspar) (03/30/91)
As far as I know, getting a Video Toaster to work an an A3000 is a two step process: (1) Cut a bigger hole in the back so the damned board fits (Naughty NewTek) (2) Replace the Super Denise with the old (A2000) Denise. This should make everything work just fine. -- Carson Gaspar | BIX: cgaspar carson@close.cs.columbia.edu
passaret@copernicus.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti) (03/31/91)
In article <1991Mar29.015653.7643@ameristar> rick@ameristar (Rick Spanbauer) writes: # [ transcript of telephone call deleted ] # I hope I am not expressing the minority opinion here, but I think # Newtek handled your call about as well as _you_ allowed them to. They # clearly told you that they had no official position (yet?) on revving # their product to A3000. IMO, your preaching to them about the A3000 # was surely something they have heard many times. I would say their # conservative response to announcing their A3000 plans is simply # responsible management, especially given the history of the Toaster # itself. I relayed the entire conversation, and without much comment, but I should, perhaps, explain the parts that concerned me. 1) If they are planning to release an ECO or a new board/software rev and they are not going to tell us about it, then why say that they are working on it? I don't mind them making business decisions, but I might have some to make too. If I can't be sure that the toaster will EVER be supported on the 3000, that's a big problem for me. I'm not asking for anything definite here, but "within 1991" might be nice. This is a similar problem to the one I had with Quarterback Tools. "Your program just scrambled my hard drive (paraphrased for brevity)" "Are you running 2.0?" "Yes." "Is it a 3000?" "Yes." "It does that." "What can I do?" "Wait till we fix it." "When will that be?" "I can't say." "This year?" "I can't say." To give them credit, they fixed the problem in less than a month. I just didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from them. They did not, however, do what NewTek did. Read on... 2) I'll admit that the part that really frosted me was the bit about them supporting Commodore, and the implication that it was Commodore's screw-ups that caused the problems in the first place. We all know different, but I can't imagine that anyone who talks to this woman is going to get a warm feeling about Commodore, and that worries me. This is a big problem in the Commodore development community. There seems to be this feeling that CBM doesn't know what it's doing, and that all these companies are doing them a favor by deigning to support their machine. If NewTek really feels this way, I could see a real problem if, for instance, they decide that the NeXT is a nice platform. If they do not feel that Commodore is supportive and reliable, we may be in for a big surprise. (Don't scream at me about the technical problems here, I know all about them. I eval'd the NeXT for an audio project similar in feel to the Toaster. There are some problems, but there are solutions too) # Speaking to the opening question, which you had apparently # misinterpreted as either belittling or an insult (ie "are you an # individual, ..."), I can say that in my dealings with companies # [...] 3) Bzzzz. Thank you for playing. Actually, I'm just a sarcastic sort at heart, and I can't (usually) resist a straight line like that. Again, the sotto voce "thought bubbles" were included for the sake of completeness. I didn't feel belittled, just amused. If I had been in a quicker mood, perhaps I would have reponded with "I am an individual, and I do not REPRESENT any corporation or institution" Grok? # Rick Spanbauer # Ameristar - MM -- passaretti@crd.ge.com {whatever}!crdgw1!brahe!passaret
schur@isi.edu (Sean Schur) (04/02/91)
In article <892@antares.Concordia.CA> cug@antares.concordia.ca ( COMPUTER USERS GROUP ) writes: > >In article <1991Mar25.130057.16108@infonode.ingr.com> hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes: >>is Newteks plains for the Video Toaster and the Amiga 3000? Do they > >Our multimedia lab has an A3000 with a toaster inside of it. Our amazing >local Amiga dealer found a way. They are called "Maison du Logiciel" and >will ship anywhere in North America. Probably the best service and >support in all of Canada. Even Newtek has ordered an A3000T from them >to see just how they did it. No warantees were voided either. It >works just fine. We have 18 MB of RAM in the thing as well... >- > Stef. We have also put Toasters in 3000's. 5 to date. We are doing them for ourselves and some individuals from local dealerships who have requested our assistance. ======================================================================= Sean Schur USENET: schur@isi.edu Assistant Director Amiga/Media Lab Compuserve: 70731,1102 Character Animation Department Plink: OSS259 California Institute of the Arts =======================================================================
jerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) (04/03/91)
Why don't you try asking NewTek for schematics! No company is going to give out their product marketing plans to some shmoe who calls them up on the phone. What you are doing is pointless. NewTek was showing prototypes of the Toaster years before Commodore released the 3000, even before they had a 68030 board. Do you expect NewTek to hire psychics? I'm sure that NewTek's second priority, after getting the Toaster out the door at all, is to get it working in a 3000. I'm equally sure that their lowest priority is faxing out PERT charts of their product schedules as prizes to anyone who ties up their customer support line. For anyone who "will just die" if they can't have a Toaster in a 3000, take the back plate off so the board will physically fit and also swap the new Denise chip in the 3000 for an old one. -- Jerry Thompson | // checks ___________ | "I'm into S&M, I loved the peace and solitude | \\ // and | | | | Sarcasm and so much, I invited my friends. | \X/ balances /_\ | /_\ | Mass Sarcasm."