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-
- Friday Night Special Edition Real Time Conference
- June 4, 1993
-
- Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie
-
- Host - Lou Rocha
-
-
- <[Lou] ST.LOU> Welcome to the June installement of Dateline Atari!
- with Bob Brodie, Director of Communications for Atari Corp. We are
- indeed privileged and appreciative to have Bob participate in this
- exclusive monthly conference with Atari users here on GEnie. As
- June flowers begin to blossom, Atari users are posting news of
- Falcon purchases. In the Bulletin Board there are daily messages
- from ecstatic new owners. New Falcon topics are opening as
- software notes are shared and compared. There is a very definite
- upbeat mood in the Atari ST RoundTable now that the Falcons have
- arrived in large numbers. If that were not enough, we have heard
- that the 65 meg hard drives have been upgraded to 80 meg units at
- NO EXTRA COST! I guess that is the reward for being patient :-)
- Tonight, Bob has returned to bring us the latest news on Falcon
- availability. He will also give GEnie users the first official
- announcements about Atari's newest product. Bob.... the curtain is
- rising.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Welcome to the June '93 edition of Dateline Atari!
- Settle back into your chair for a few minutes. Make sure you have
- your capture buffer turned on, or be sure to go to the library
- tomorrow morning to d/l the transcript from tonight's session;
- I've got lots of info to share with you tonight!
-
- First, I'm pleased to announce that shipments of Falcon030s are
- continuing with units for dealers to sell at this point. We
- presently have over 140 (yes, that is One Hundred Forty) dealers
- on board, in over 40 states. This is much better than where we
- were a year ago. We're very pleased that our decision to go with
- the new dealer agreement has brought us leverage to bring on new
- dealers! In fact, earlier today I got a call from one of our
- "holdout", older dealers that hadn't signed the agreement yet.
- He's having a change of heart, and I'm looking forward to him
- carrying Falcon030s. This is a very good sign!!!
-
- Also, we're pleased that we've brought on board another of our
- longtime partners, Pacific Software Supply, to be a distributor
- for the Atari Falcon030. We will be working very closely with
- them to ensure that the dealers that they sign up meet all of the
- criteria that we have established for Atari dealers. All of the
- dealers that Pacific Software brings on board will be signing the
- same dealer agreements as the dealers that we deal directly with.
-
- Of course, this means that Pacific is now also carrying a host of
- accessories for the Atari Falcon030 as well, like the sometimes
- elusive SCSI-II cables, a host of Falcon software, VGA monitors,
- and lots of other goodies for our dealers. In short, the dealers
- are getting another terrific resource to work with!!
-
- Some of you may recall that I indicated in the last
- Dateline Atari! we were still a ways off from being able to ship
- SpeedoGDOS and MultiTOS to existing Atari owners. Both of
- these products are shipping with Falcon030s. Today we received
- the diskettes back from the duplicators, and the manuals arrived a
- couple of days ago, so we're actually ahead of schedule at this
- point! We have begun assembling the packages so our customers
- will be able to purchase MultiTOS and SpeedoGDOS along with 14
- BitStream fonts within a couple of weeks!!!
-
- The manuals for Atari Works have still not arrived, which means
- that we are still ON SCHEDULE <grin> for that product. Works
- should be in stock in approximately fourteen more days.
-
- The retail price for the products to current users has been
- slightly adjusted, and is now as follows:
-
- SpeedoGDOS - $64.95
- MultiTOS- $59.95
- Atari Works- $118.95
-
- We have also done an incremental upgrade to the Atari Falcon030 in
- our on-going efforts to provide our users with the best units we
- possibly can. We have upgraded the Atari Falcon030 from a 65 meg
- internal hard disk drive to an 80 megabyte hard disk drive. We
- were able to secure the new mechanisms at the very same price as
- the 65s, so there will be no increase in price to our customers!
-
- Currently, Atari Falcon030s are shipping with the following
- programs on the drives:
- MultiTOS
- SpeedoGDOS
- Landmines
- Breakout
- CalAppt
- ProCalc
- Talking Clock
-
- They are also *supposed* to have on them Atari Works, System
- Audio Manager, Audio Fun Machine, and FalconD2D. A small number
- of machines got out the door without these programs installed on
- the drives. We will be shipping a mail-in card to the dealers
- that got these machines a card for their customers to mail into
- Atari so you will receive these products via mail. We apologize
- for the mistake.
-
- We are now in anticipation of another shipment of Falcons in about
- two weeks. Included in this shipment is going to be a number of
- units that will not have hard drives built in, specifically the
- Falcon030 with one meg of RAM and no hard disk, and with four megs
- of RAM and no hard disk. These units WILL NOT come with
- SpeedoGDOS, Atari Works, or FalconD2D. They will have everything
- else, including the hard disk utilities in case you have your own
- SCSI hard disk. We will be selling at a later date a hard drive
- upgrade kit, which will ship with Atari Works, SpeedoGDOS,
- FalconD2D, MultiTOS, etc. on the hard drive.
-
- Regarding applications for the Atari Falcon030, Bill Rehbock has
- passed on to me some information concerning products and
- availability. Please understand that I am not professing literacy
- in all (or for that matter, any) of these products. I am simply
- passing on some interesting information to our users. I hope that
- this will prove encouraging, and help demonstrate that the
- interest for Atari Computers is continuing to grow. In several
- cases, these applications will not only run on the Falcon030, but
- other Atari computers as well. Where I have commented about who
- will be carrying the product in North America, this is based on
- the best information I have at this time, and is subject to
- change.
-
- Notator Logic, a music applications, by E-Magic
- Cubase Audio, a music application, by Steinberg
- Inshape, a rendering application by Roald Christesen, carried by
- Oregon Research
- TruePicture, a retouching application, by HiSoft, carried by
- Oregon Research
- Harlekin3, a utility, by HiSoft, carried by Oregon Research
- OverGenlock, video software by Overscan, carried by COMPO
- Screenblaster, graphic expansion by Overscan, carried by COMPO
- Overlay, a video application by Overscan, carried by COMPO
- DA's Vector, a graphics application by Digital Arts, carried by
- Pacific Software
- Convector 2, an auto vectorization application from SHIFT, carried
- by Gribnif
- Zoom, an icon editor from SHIFT, carried by Gribnif
- MusiCOM, a music application from COMPO
- MusiCOM 2, a music application from COMPO
- Digitape, a music application from Trade iT, carried by Codehead
- Falcon Speed, a PC board, from COMPO
- TruePaint, a graphics application from HiSoft, carried by Oregon
- Research
- Pure C, a programming language from Pure GmbH, carried by Gribnif
- Pure Pascal, a programming language from Pure GmbH, carried by
- Gribnif
- Studio Photo, a retouching application from Eurosoft, carried by
- COMPO
- Chagall, a graphics application from Trade iT, carried by Codehead
- GT-Look II, scanner software, carried by Pacific Software
- Interface, a programming tool, from SHIFT GmbH, carried by
- Gribnif.
-
- As you can see, there really is a lot going on!!!
-
- In addition to all of that, we've been busy on the game side of
- things as well! We're ready to release three more titles for the
- Lynx: Gordo 106, Lemmings, and Jimmy Connors Tennis. I've seen
- eproms of these titles, and expect to have news on production in
- the near future.
-
- Also on the game side of things, as CES is going on in Chicago
- even as we speak, we've announced the Jaguar, our oft discussed
- new game machine. For those of you who haven't had a chance to
- hear about the Jaguar, here is our press release:
-
- Atari Corp., the founder of the video game industry and the
- creative force behind some of the world's best-known titles, has
- announced the launch of a revolutionary new multi-media
- entertainment system, the Atari Jaguar. The launch will be
- supported by aggressive advertising, promotion and marketing
- efforts to be centered in the New York market in the fall, with a
- national roll-out of the product within one year.
-
- The Atari Jaguar, housed in a futuristic casing, is an interactive
- multi-media system based on an Atari-designed proprietary 64-bit
- RISC processor. The 64-bit system is four times the technology
- currently seen in the market today. The Atari Jaguar features over
- 16 million colors in 24-bit true-color graphics and produces
- shaded 3-D polygons to be manipulated in a "real" world in real
- time. The Atari Jaguar also has real-time texture mapping and
- creates spectacular video effects.
-
- The sound system is based on Atari's proprietary, high-speed,
- Digital Signal Processor dedicated to audio. The audio is 16-bit
- stereo CD quality and processes simultaneous sources of audio
- data, allowing for very realistic sounds, as well as human voices,
- which are essential for future multi-media applications.
-
- The Atari Jaguar is truly expandable and will include a 32-bit
- expansion port which allows for future connection into cable and
- telephone networks, as well as a digital signal processing port
- for modem use and connection to digital audio peripherals such as
- DAT players.
-
- The unit will also have a compact disc peripheral, which will be
- double-speed and will play regular CD audio, CD + G (Karaoke) and
- Kodak's new Photo-CD(R). Currently, there are multiple software
- titles in development, which will be available on MegaCart(TM).
- Atari, known for such groundbreaking 3-D titles as "Battlezone
- 2000(R)" and "Tempest 2000(R)," will issue spectacular new
- versions for the Atari Jaguar. New 3-D game titles will include
- "Cybermorph(R)," "Alien vs. Predator(R)," "Jaguar Formula One
- Racing(TM)" and many more. Atari will license third-party
- publishers to join the Jaguar family.
-
- "The Atari Jaguar system will revolutionize the state of home
- entertainment as we see it today," said Sam Tramiel, president of
- Atari. "The idea of a 64-bit system is earth shattering and kids
- and adults will be amazed at both the imagery and manipulative
- capabilities. And we are proud that our entry into the multi-
- media entertainment category will be fully made in America."
-
- The Atari Jaguar will retail for approximately $200 and will be
- available nationwide next year. The Atari Jaguar packaged unit
- will include one software experience and a Power Pad(R) Controller
- with a ten-key pad and other special features.
-
- We did not show the Jaguar on the floor of CES. We have a
- videotape demonstrating the units capabilities that we are showing
- to developers and key retailers. We have been shipping Jaguar
- developer units for awhile now, and are very excited at the
- reception of our new unit.
-
- Rather than invest in an incredibly expensive rollout at CES,
- we've opted for a "special event" kind of rollout. We will
- conduct our event at a date to be announced in the fall.
-
- We are extremely excited about this project!!!! It has been much
- awaited by all of us in Sunnyvale, and we forsee it as a product
- that will recapture the attention of consumers throughout the
- world!! I've been pleased that already, in less than 24 hours
- after the press release has hit, a number of publications (even
- the foreign ones!) are calling in, and looking for as much
- information as possible. For the most part, we're sticking with
- the press release at this time. We will release specification
- sheets at a later time.
-
- One thing that I know the Tramiels are particulary excited about
- with this product, is that it will be an American prodcut,
- manufactured in America! I hope that all of you share our
- enthusiasm for that!!!
-
- With that, I'm ready to filed any questions that our members might
- have tonight, Lou. Let's talk Atari!!!
-
- <[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Bob. It does sound like more good news! Here
- come the hands.......:-) Our first guest in Charlie Townsley.
-
- <[Sexy] ARCHIVIST> Hi again Bob, thanks for being here. A little
- question about the pricing of the new programs from Atari: You
- quoted Atari Works as having a price of $118.95, does this include
- SpeedoGDOS as was suggested earlier? Or is Speedo extra at at the
- price of $64.95?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Speedo is included with Works for the users that
- purchase it...as a separate product, Charlie. They will also
- get the fonts.
-
- <[Just Folks] ARCHIVIST> Ah, OK I just wondered at the price jump.
- that's all.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> I think it's actually lower, Charlie. We were going
- to charge for Works $129
-
- <[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Charlie. Next is Bruce Welsch of the KC
- Fest.
-
- <[Bruce] B.WELSCH> Hi Bob, Great news about the Falcon. Will the
- manuals ship with the computers? And can we get a copy of the
- Jaguar Video to show at the show? And where can we get the Kodak
- CD drivers?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Bruce, as I indicated in my opening remarks, there
- were a few units that went out the door without the products,
- and the manual. The manuals for System Audio Manager, Works, Audio
- Fun Machine, FalconD2D are coming. We will be providing those
- via mail for the customers that already have them. Re the video,
- no...I'm sorry. That is not available at this time. Re the Kodak
- Photo CD stuff, please send email to B.REHBOCK, he will be happy
- to fill you in on the drivers.
-
- <Y.SIU> What will be the RRP for the Jaguar? And what price should
- the games be retailing at for the Jaguar?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> RRP, you mean MSRP??
-
- <Y.SIU> Sorry....Retail Price I meant.....:-)
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Under $200. And no pricing on the games at this point
- in time.
-
- <Y.SIU> And more importantly, Atari appears to have lost many of
- its professional base in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. What
- will Atari do to regain those losses?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Yat, the professional users that you are referring to
- are by and large DTP people. We expect to be able to reclaim those
- people as more of the apps start to take advantage of the things
- in the Falcon030 like the DSP chip. On the other hand, your
- question seems to imply that we have lost ALL of the
- professionals, which is simply not true. We are GROWING a new,
- higher level, professional audio/sound/ music class of users that
- recognize the Falcon030 as a world class sound system!!! These
- users will continue to give credibility to the Atari line of
- computers.
-
- <[Brad] B.SUSLOVIC> Bob, just wanted to say that I had no idea of
- the broad nature of the Jaguar. WOW. How does one develop software
- for the Jaguar? What immense potential!!! go team
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Brad, our developer support group here in Sunnyvale
- for the Jaguar is headed up by John Skrutch. Please feel free to
- write him, or contact him via Bill Rehbock here on GEnie and tell
- them that you are interested in becoming a registered developer
- for the Jaguar, and we'll be happy to pass along the necessary
- info to you. We appreciate your interest in developing for the
- Jaguar.
-
- <[Dave Munsie] D.MUNSIE> Thank you! Good Evening Mr. Brodie..I
- have two questions... First..Does Atari plan on having any
- regional reps to handle dealer sales regarding the Falcon?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Yes, Dave, we have a team of over 16 regional reps in
- place now.
-
- <[Dave Munsie] D.MUNSIE> OK, there are two two dealers in the
- Dallas/FT worth area....with over 2000 users in this area we are
- waiting for the Falcon to show up...any word on Megabyte and
- Computer Discoveries? thanks..
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> David, I really don't care to discuss each dealer's
- status in public, as I think that it is unprofessional as a
- rule...but I will in this case say that we just got the app from
- Megabytes a couple of days ago, and we're still waiting for the
- rest of the package to come back from Computer Discoveries. So,
- with that in mind, I'd also like to point out there are two
- dealers already selling the Falcon in the Dallas Metroplex area,
- they are both Guitar Center locations. One is in Arlington, and
- one is in Dallas proper. Would you like the address and phone
- numbers so you can contact them to purchase one?
-
- <[Dave Munsie] D.MUNSIE> Maybe you could post it so I can pass it
- on to the others here? Thanks.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Send email, Dave.
-
- <[James] J.FRENCH2> Is the Falcon a transitional machine?? Jaguar
- seems to have more advanced technology thaty would fit nicely in a
- full blown computer.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> No, the Falcon is not a transitional machine. They
- are 100% different animals. The Jaguar doesn't have many of the
- Falcon hardware "computer things", like SCSI, floppies, a monitor
- port, etc. The Jaguar will have many other features that are more
- focused toward entertainment and multimedia. But the Falcon is a
- versatile computer.
-
- <[James] J.FRENCH2> Can you tell us about the video hardware by
- Compo?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> The hardware is really by Overscan, not Compo. Compo
- is going to be carrying it here in the US for Overscan. It will
- allow greater screen rez, like 800x600x256. It's shipping now in
- Germany to good reviews. I don't have pricing at this time, and
- suggest that you email COMPO, or bring it up in one of their
- topics here in the ST RT.
-
- <[Jeff] J.WHITE99> Naturally, most of my questions center on
- availability. Will the forthcoming shipment of F030s be of a size
- similar to the last? When is peak production anticipated? Did you
- mention D2D Systems in your application-compatible list?
-
- It is naturally reassuring that there is going to be some sort of
- effort by corporate to promote some of their products. Seeing that
- the Jaguar is only a consumer product and the Falcon really has a
- lot of direction to that market as well, what's the possibility of
- directing some of those efforts towards the birds as well as the
- cats.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Jeff, we never comment publically on the size of the
- shipments. If you look at the marketplace as a whole right now,
- (computer hardware that is) there are a number of well known
- manufacturers that are being very cautious about their productions
- capacities. Certainly, that is in repsonse to the still poor
- economy, where growth in the retail end is still quite small
- overall. We have seen at Atari, a number of our "traditional"
- marketing partners disappear over the last few years, like the
- Highland Stores in the midwest, which were once gigantic, and are
- now closed. So we will earmark production as the economy continues
- to slowly rebound.
-
- Re the sharing of the technology... I think that there is no
- question that there are things that can be used in future products
- (note the DSP stuff in the Jag) and we will apply those across all
- of our products. But the Falcon is a much different product than
- the Jaguar, make no mistake about it. I hope I answered all of
- your question, Jeff. All the /sends coming in made it pretty hard
- to read. Give me a call next week...we'll talk.
-
- <E.NIKOLAISE2> Bob I was just wondering if you have contacted
- Sculptured Software about becoming a Jaguar Developer. Also, can
- you tell us what video output the Jag. will have? SVHS
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Erik, we'll release the spec sheet at a later time,
- not tonight. And I'm not at liberty to say who are developers for
- the Jaguar are at this point in time, sorry.
-
- <[ken] K.BURKENHEIM> I have one of the new Falcons with the 80
- meg hd. I also am waiting for the software. I LOVE the machine and
- am typing to you on it in High REz and In color.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Ken, that's great to hear, I'm glad you're so pleased
- with your Atari Falcon030!!! We will do our best to get you the
- software as quickly as we possibly can. We got another rev of SAM
- today and I'm told that it is solid, as well as D2D. So, it should
- be working on the F030! Just a question of getting the manuals
- done now that the software is *FINALLY* solid.
-
- <[Brian G.] B.GOCKLEY> Hi Bob, Two Questions: Glad to hear you're
- on schedule with Falcon shipments. Will there be any for sale at
- the CT show next week? We have three dealers attending who have
- signed their ADAs, but don't _yet_ have any product to sell. We're
- looking forward to our best show ever, June 12-13 in Hartford,
- sorry you can't join us this year.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Yes, the dealers that we have authorized to sell
- Falcons at the CT Atarifest are The Computer Zone of North
- Attleboro, Mass and East Hartford Computer Repair. Both of them
- should have Falcons at the show.
-
- <[Brian G.] B.GOCKLEY> Thanks, Re: the Jaguar, what about a bundle
- of some old favorites like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Frogger for
- those users who cut their teeth on Ataris. (That's from Angela!)
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Brian, those are great ideas.
-
- <[/sen 16] C.CASSADAY> Bob, how does one go about getting apps
- like Talking Clock, ProCalc, CalAppt, Landmine, and Breakout? I'm
- not going to purchase a Falcon030, but I will purchase MTOS as
- soon as it becomes available. Are some of these programs included
- with MTOS?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Chris, no those programs are not included with
- MultiTOS. MultiTOS and SpeedoGDOS both come with a text file
- telling every user how to sign up for GEnie, that I personally
- wrote! :) Re the other programs, I don't know what to tell you
- right now. CalAppt is a comprehensive program, and requires (at
- least I required) a manual in order to use it. The games....I
- don't know what to tell you yet about that. I'll see what can be
- done. They are written to take express advantage of the Falcon,
- but will work on other machines as well. My wife is cutting into
- my computer time at home on the TT so she can play Breakout. :)
-
- <[Stevan] B.STEVAN> Bob, From a dealers perspective will we get
- some sort of an upgrade from the 65MB HD to the 80MB as well as
- the other programs that were not shipped with the dealers units?
-
- Also with regard to service parts we have been unable to get just
- about anything since Atari Canada closed up...what is the
- situation with that. Also is Canada going to be getting any of
- those reps you were mentioning?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Stevan, No...there will be no upgrade from the 65 meg
- units. It was intended to be an incremental upgrade. Frankly, we
- were very surprised that it happened this fast. We thought that it
- would be longer before we got the newer drives. Sorry. Re the
- programs, I indicated in my opening remarks that there were a
- limited number of machines that went out the door without the
- programs that were supposed to be installed on them, and we
- apologize for the mistake. We will be sending the affected
- dealer(s) post cards for them to provide to their customers so
- that the can get the programs mailed to them once the manuals are
- ready. Re the Canadians, we have signed on a rep for the music
- side, and I'm attempting to bring on one for the Computer side as
- well. We'll see how it goes. I know that parts are a problem right
- now and we're trying to correct it. Right now, fax Shirley Taylor
- with your orders at 408-745-2088 and she will do the best that she
- can to help you with your parts needs. Also, don't forget that
- there are other suppliers than Atari, like BEST Electronics in San
- Jose, that stock just about anything and everything for Atari
- products.
-
- <[Yat] Y.SIU> Concerning the Central European market...there was
- much criticism about the fact that thre was no Falcon coming in a
- TT-like design, with a VME bus and/or '040? How are the plans for
- such a future computer...and if not an 040...what about the
- 16Mhz....MTOS is still too slow in my opinion to run on a
- Falcon030....
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Yat, I remind you of what I told you last month. I do
- not work for Atari Corporate, or the Europeans. I work for Atari
- US which also has Canadian responsibilities. Not Europe. I really
- am not in a position to comment on what the plans are for
- specifically for our European markets. I suggest that you take
- those issues up with Bob Gleadow, the GM of Atari UK. I will be
- happy...IN EMAIL, to provide you his contact info.
-
- <[Yat] Y.SIU> Sorry...my question was not meant to focus on
- Europe, but on the future of maybe some probable Falcons..i.e.
- Atari Products... Thanks for your answer....
-
- <[pat] P.FORISTER> Bob, when using a Falcon030 without MTOS loaded
- will I still get the 3D gadgets?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> No, Pat. The 3D gadgets are a result of loading a
- new version of the AES specifically designed for MultiTOS.
-
- <[Rob] R.ANISKO> Bob, - are there any plans to release any special
- filesystems for MultiTOS in the near future? I've heard good
- things about the Minix filesystem, for instance (in terms of
- speed, and breaking the 8.3 filename limit), and would be
- interested in seeing MultiTOS take advantage of such things. It
- would be nice to simply add a filesystem, and then pop in *any*
- disk format (like an Am*ga or M*cintosh formatted disk) and go
- from there.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Yes, Rob...I have spoken with Eric Smith, and there
- is some new things in the works for the file system, espcecially
- the extensions to the MINT file system.
-
- <[Rob] R.ANISKO> One other question - what would be your thoughts
- on maybe bundling some shareware titles on the Falcon's harddisk
- (like Gemview, ConNect, etc) that should already be suited to take
- advantage of the Falcon's capabilities?
-
- I'm not sure of the legal stuff, but it would be nice for those
- folks without modems to get a look at some of these programs
- (actually, bundling a modem wouldn't be a bad idea either |-)
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> I doubt if we'll bundle modems, Rob....not until we
- have our own DSP modem available. Most of the time, I think
- including shareware diskettes are a good tool for a dealer to use
- to make the customer feel that he is getting a enhanced value for
- his purchase. I got a ton of free software back when I bought my
- original 1040, and really felt good about my purchase.
-
- <SAM-RAPP> Hey Bob! What were the factors that lead to the
- decision to market the Jaguar in the New York Area as opposed to a
- nationwide roll out? Also, please elaborate on the Lynx situation.
- What happened to the new games? (2 a month!) What about the RPG's
- in specific? I can buy ST stuff easier than Lynx around here!
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> One of the major factors in the roll out in NY is
- that it is a densely populated area, with terrific media exposure
- that makes it easy to both sell and promote a product greatly,
- rather than doing a big rollout all over the US. Re the two games
- a month, right now it's been more like two games a quarter. I
- suspect that part of the reason for that is the emphasis has been
- to get the Jaguar ready, and we've made some sacrifices in order
- to ensure that that happened.
-
- <SAM-RAPP> One more question... any pricing/availability on the
- 16(14) meg boards for Falcon? GA. (and thanks!)
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> I should know that, but I don't. I know that we have
- a limited amount of them in stock right now, but I'm also told
- that Zubair is producing a 14 meg board, too. So you might want to
- check with them, and see what they're doing.
-
- <[Connor] CAN-ASST> Hi Bob! Part of one of my questions was
- already answered, but I called Atari a week or so ago to find out
- about Canadian dealers for pricing info and was told that there
- were only 2 authorized Falcon dealers in Canada...
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Whoever told you that was mistaken.
-
- <[Connor] CAN-ASST> I called the one in Toronto and they weren't
- sure of the pricing.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> The pricing is posted in the BB here in the ST RT.
-
- <[Connor] CAN-ASST> Thanks, Bob.
-
- <[Lou] ST.LOU> Connor, I believe Bob is saying that only US
- pricing is posted because of the fluctuating exchange rate. :-)
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Actually, I can post it again right now if you would
- like.
-
- <[Connor] CAN-ASST> Ok, that would be great Bob. Thanks.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> OK, Connor. The prices for the Atari Falcon030
- follow. These are in US dollars, due to the fluctuations in the
- exchange rate that are presently happening. All prices are MSRP,
- GST and Duty are additional:
- Falcon030 1/0 814.98
- Falcon030 4/0 1018.98
- Falcon030/4/65 1324.98
- Falcon030/14/80 1936.98
-
- The price on the 4/65 is really for a 4/80, sorry. Old habits. :)
-
- <[Jeff] J.WHITE99> Trying not to incur wrath and still be pointed
- is difficult. Marketing... Any retailer of any product will tell
- you it is easier for them to support a product people are asking
- for. Why not advertise F030s as aggressively as Jaguars? ;-) You
- had mentioned the 'futuristic' aggressive advertising for the
- Jaguar.
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Tell me about the Jaguar commercials you've seen,
- Jeff? :) It's like this...we recognize that we need to do more
- things to market the product. The problem is to do it a cost
- effective way that is going to make sense, and not burn up
- hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. In looking at the
- most recent issue of Computer Reseller News, I see that for the
- top ten computer mfgs of desktop computer systems last year, there
- are only TWO that I recognize as doing any TV advertising for at
- all. In fact, a couple of them are people that I don't remember
- ever seeing any advertisement for at all, anywhere!!! So, on the
- one hand, building a demand for the product is a big item, but
- clearly, there are a number of different ways to go about it.
- Dealers always want to see you spending big, so they don't have to
- spend. On the other hand, being from the Bay Area, you've seen how
- effective a good partner in promotion can be used like Fry's
- Electronics. Virtually NO TV, but major print and radio ads. And
- their stores are full...I know, I shop there, too. So, we'll be
- looking for the Falcon at doing some cost effective things in
- conjuction with quality partners, both retail and developers. We
- want to resume doing things like the campaign we did with FOSTEX,
- Dr. T's, Steinberg, and C-Lab once before where we shared the cost
- of the promotion between all of us. It was great! And we also need
- other things, too, like POP materials. They will come, Jeff.
- Promise. <whew>
-
- <[Lou] ST.LOU> I want to thank Bob for bringing so much
- information to us tonight in the longest Dateline Atari! session
- so far. Given the numbers who attended, I am sure you realize how
- important these sessions are to Atari users. Thanks. I would like
- to thank all of you for attending tonight. It was great for me to
- see so many new and old names! Any closing comments, Bob?
-
- <BOB-BRODIE> Thanks, Lou. Another great job tonight in moderating
- such an excitable group. Well done, and thanks to all for
- attending.
-
-