home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: news.ais.net!usenet
- From: Eric Szulczewski <ejszul19@starnetinc.com>
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
- Subject: Re: The March Amiga?
- Date: Thu, 08 Feb 1996 21:13:06 -0600
- Organization: American Information Systems, Inc.
- Message-ID: <311ABBC2.2078@starnetinc.com>
- References: <19960131.78AA1F0.E6C7@obscurity.pd.mcs.net> <4f22vl$rbp@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: lv005-129.starnetinc.com
- Mime-Version: 1.0
- Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
- Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
- X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0GoldB1 (Win95; I)
-
- George Noel wrote:
- >
-
- > Others here have said they are only putting out the A1200+ to get quick
- > money on old technology.
-
- Well, they are, but that isn't "rape and pillage". In fact, in one of my
- posts to Gary, I said that I approve of it if it gets them R&D money for
- the PPC. I just think they can get more with a little more outlay applied
- to advertising and promotion.
-
- > >I only said that the 600 and 1200 were crap. And I have made "positive
- > >and constructive suggestions" in regard to the 1200, namely abandon the
- > >true low-end system and go for a low-to-mid-end that wasn't in an
- > >all-in-one so that a user would be encouraged to upgrade in an easier
- > >manner. I never heard from Kittel about that.
- > Yes you have, he has said this is out of the question due to higher
- > production costs, which I agree with. There needs to be 3 models, the
- > lowend, the midlle-ranged and the highend. I think the A1200+ will fit
- > into the middle-range somewhat, now whether or not they supply expansion
- > slots is another question, I doubt it, but would be appreciative.
-
- I was talking about my response to his blow-off, where I politely
- requested the reasoning behind his "response".
-
- There does need to be a mid-end system, but the low-end has to go higher
- for the NA market, or perhaps not even sent here.
-
- > As for the current price, in my recent Amazing Amiga, the A1200/3.1
- > OS/AGA/2MB RAM/NO HD is going for $599US with the AT Magic Pack plus 25
- > other disks of software from the mail order company. For a 170MB Hard
- > Drive included it is $195 extra. Maybe non Amiga owners wouldn't pay
- > this much but I would have had the A1200+ not be scheduled to come out
- > in May. Price all depends on how you view the product I guess.
-
- Now let's break that down further. It's $600 for the system, $200 for the
- HD, add another $450 for a monitor (has the price of the Microvitek gone
- down?). We're up to $1250 right now for a system with an 020/14, some
- notso-hotso software (although I give Wordworth a great deal of praise;
- bravo to AT for including it in the "Magic" pack (see, I complimented them
- on something!)), 2M of slow chip RAM, and a very small HD. A couple weeks
- ago, a friend of mine paid that much for a 486 DX2/66 with 8M of much
- faster RAM, 1M VRAM (so in Amigoid terms, that's 9M), a 540, a quad-speed
- CD-ROM...you see where I'm going with this. The 1200 being a low-end
- system is a fallacy.
-
- > >Just to clarify, I feel that the 1200 is too weak, too technologically
- > >outmoded, too difficult to beef up, and not as good a starter system as
- > >some here say it is.
-
- > Granted yes, it could be better.
-
- George, I've explained why I'm knocking it. So why exactly are you
- defending it, other than the nebulous reason that we "shouldn't attack an
- AT product"?
-
- > If you really want to make sure we have a good lowend,
- > offer your suggestions when the time comes for a lowend PPC Amiga.
-
- And the time to start doing that is now.
-
- > >GP> Now maybe some will see why the US lawyer type got to keep his job?
- > >GP> Remember the sig "egoff.ibm.net"?
- > With the cooperation that AT needs with IBM and Apple for the
- > development of the Power Amiga, I see no problem with this, along with
- > IBM being equated with business and serious business, it will only
- > improve the image of the Surfer pack.
-
- Well, it won't be to the benefit of the S--fer pack, but it will to the
- PPC. In case I didn't say it before, I think that working with IBM would
- be a benefit to AT. My dream is to have a boot screen come up on my
- system one day that would ask me "AmigaOS or OS/2?".
-
- > >... but maybe they should have diverted from
- > >those practices a little and experimented with the laws of consumer
- > >demand. I'm not finding fault, just acting with hindsight.
-
- > I think this is what the pre-Christmas and Christmas sales was. They
- > now have some figures to work with, let them do the math and do the
- > adjusting.
-
- And if sales are as bad as everyone thinks, they've got a great deal of
- adjusting to do. Maybe they'll listen to the detractors on here...
-
- > >That's an awfully snide remark given to a well-expressed valid
- > >criticism, Gary. You've got to admit that $800 is a little expensive
- > >for a 1200, no matter what software it comes with. It's just a matter
- > >of plain consumer economics, especially in NA, where the power cult is
- > >king.
-
- > Considering some are trying to put out a box with no drives in it for
- > $500 that connects to a network to do everything and paying for that
- > network in the process, basically a Smart Terminal, the $800 doesn't
- > seem too bad when you got a floppy drive and software to use right away
- > without having to be connected to anything yet still having the option
- > of finding your own Internet Service Provider and using the Internet/WEB
- > software that came with that $800 machine. Where did you get $800
- > anyways? Is that Canadian or US dollars?
-
- As Amiga users, we sometimes get into the habit of thinking that every
- computer user is as smart as we are when it comes to handling our
- machines. A lot of people out there are going to think that a smart
- terminal is a wonderful thing because they don't have to do the DIY work
- that we take for granted.
-
- And as for the $800 price, well, it's being promoted (barely) in Germany
- at DM1200, which is approximately US$800.
-
- > >No, but what they do have is more important, and that's what Paul's
- > >talking about: AT's marketing strategy for the Amiga.
- > Another point no one has brought up.. do you think they are going to
- > market something which is technically not theirs?
-
- Yes, because they own it. That makes it technically theirs.
-
- > I mean AT had no say in the stock A1200. They came up with the Surfer
- > pack and are designing the A1200+, made the deal with Microvitec for the
- > monitors, put together the Magic Pack and made arrangements for the
- > Q-drive.. don't you think once they are ready they will market these
- > moreso as it is their own ideas?
-
- If so, that's a mistake, because those 1200s and 4000Ts were the only
- asset they had during Christmas.
-
- > >Speaking of long-term preparation, Gary, I was wondering: if the PPC
- > >comes out here without a marketing push and without a mass marketer in
- > >place before release, will you criticize then?
- > I know I would, that would be long enough to get their act in gear and
- > to take the Amiga seriously and know how to market it. I think things
- > will fall into place before then.
-
- I also hope that, but it's not my nature to be optimistic.
-
- > Are you getting this feed through a BBS or a University or an Internet
- > provider?
-
- It was a BBS. Now I'm going through an ISP. And, no, I don't feel it's
- too heretical to be answering an Amiga newsgroup on a DOG box, because I'm
- looking at my power box in front of me, and the Miggy's attached to the
- switched marked "Computer", while the DOG box is attached to the one
- marked "Aux 1". And that's how I'm treating this thing...
-
- Eric Szulczewski
- ejszul19@starnetinc.com
- Member, Team AMIGA
-