NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/sys/amiga/misc-part2/12397

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-05 | 7.5 KB

Path: coranto.ucs.mun.ca!gnoel
From: [e-mail] (George Noel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Elitist Amigans and their demands (was Re: Walker vs. the $999
Date: 14 Apr 1996 06:41:46 GMT
Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland
Sender: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <4kq6na$[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: plato.ucs.mun.ca
Keywords: Ha!

In article <[e-mail]>,
Dr. Peter Kittel <[e-mail]> wrote:

>to one of my postings!) are just imaginations? And still, it doesn't
>help too much when we know what you here on Usenet want, you are all
>a rather small, elitist group with very specialized requirements, which
>is not representative for the bigger market we are selling to. And we
>know this, because we also listen to our customers who *buy* Amigas
>and not only argue about them.

OH GAWD! Ha! You sometimes amaze me with your comments.

Talking to the people here on the Internet means talking directly to your
consumer base past, present (in some parts of the world anyways) and
future.  Every one post here stating views about the Amiga I would assume
represents 10 - 100 Amiga users who do not have net access and/or do not
take part in these discussions, if not higher.  These "elitist" people
you talk about also run BBSs (in some cases), call other networks or
online services, have friends with Amigas and know the scene around the
world moreso then what you guys do in your part of the world basing decisions
on market figures, cost vs. profit figures and in recent times, losses.
Not everyone fills out qustionairres and sends them back to the company
and what is good for one part of the world is not good for another part
but that doesn't mean you leave out a section of the world.

Based on your opinions Dr. P. K. (in the past) the new Walker would only
come with one internal floppy, no high density disk drive and no hard
drive and would be in an all in one case if it were left up to you.  "Add
a second floppy drive! It would still be a useable machine". Come to
think of it "floppies are getting old now so there is no need for a high
density drive, it doesn't give much more cost per space performance
anyways".  "Because you can get by with two floppy drives, you really
don't need a hard drive to store files on". And the best one "It has to
be in an all in one case to keep the price down".  Granted now I am
summarizing and making fun where possible, not direct quoting you.  You
think comments like those actually reflect the Amiga user base and the
comments here don't?

Now granted some of the people asking for 060s and graphics cards built
in and still having a decent price range IS asking a bit much but some of
the comments about the 040s are valid but I still agree with the 030.  I
am glad to see a lot of the user bases problems will be solved with the
Walker.. ie: high density standard, Hard Drive standard, CD-ROM drive
standard, new OS fixes and additions, ability to go from lowend to
highend in the same case etc.  The only two questionable tactics so far
is the choice of the shape of the case (not the idea behind it) and it
still being up in the air whether it will ship with one or 2 MB chip
ram.  The latter should not even be a question.

The delay in bringing the A1200 Surfer to the North American market has
been a mistake.  It should have been long enough now to translate the
documents into English and make NTSC versions of the programs (we can run
the PAL versions here too) along with gathering the NTSC parts needed for
the A1200.  The problem I have seen with it is lack of money and the lack of
willingness to take a chance. So you have to translate the documentation
into 11 languages alone on your own shores but the bigger Internet and
online market is in North America using English.  There are a lot of
people over here not on the net and want something new and easy to get
onto it but don't want to face uncertainty in the PC market which has
seen computers go from 60 MHz to 160 Mhz in 14 months with all the latest
software requiring maximum memory and CPU speed.  Why do you think the PC
market is hurting so badly and Windows '95 sales haven't been as good?
People are TIRED of having to upgrade their system so often or upgrading
to rediculous amounts of hardware.. the Amiga is not like this!

Also do not compare the dumping prices of 486s and Pentiums 60 and 90 to
the price of the Amiga Surfer.. those machines are being dumped and not
supported anymore.. this is the reason they are reaching the low prices
of the Amiga and what it can offer.  Also do not compare the Amiga Surfer
to the "WEB PCS" who have no local storage, they will not go after the
same market.

I just hope the Walker comes to North America also in September but I
fear not and if you wait to re-enter North America with the Power Amiga
alone next year, I think you will find yourself with no company and/or
name recognition hurting your product from the start.

Advertising has been the major beef in the Amiga community for years now,
Commodore made the mistakes and it seems AT and Escom might follow (though
you guys do have some good deals and ideas going on in your own country).
Alienating North America is a big mistake, Commodore did it (and for
crying out loud, they originated in Canada) with the Amiga in my opinion
hoping to follow up on the popularity of the C64 and everyone switching
over to the Amiga.  They didn't advertise much in North America and
delayed shipping of units here in some cases but concentrated on overseas
(which was good as that was their best selling point) BUT if they had to
advertise here, the Amiga scene would be much different.  I know
advertising costs money and I know Escom doesn't have a lot to spare but
they bought into an International computer, one which has nowhere to go
but up while the PC market is constantly going down - people don't fully
know about the Amiga and/or the Amiga philosophy along with your company,
with advertising all this will change and more product will be sold
getting back capital faster (including what is spent on advertising).
You need someone at the helm to take a risk and that someone now, not
even wanting to get the NTSC parts for 5000 or so A1200s doesn't show a
good sign.  The high price of the A4000t is hurting the Amigas image
worldwide also but I understand you are trying to use some of the money
gained from that price towards advertising and marketing.. how much of
that will go towards North America though? (Where the most will be sold).

Manfred Schmitt turned Escom into a world wide name by aquiring the
Amiga, the Amiga could turn AT and Escom into a household name given the
chance.  Funny how Manfred resigns or was forced to resign when the whole
PC industry went downhill and him not getting the chance of balancing out
the losses over the next year after turning much attention to Escom with
his acquisitions.. the Amiga can help AT and Escom get out of their slump
if you are willing to take more of a chance with it and make it more
available in North America again.  Don't make the same mistakes Commodore
did and don't give into the pressure of the PC/Windows market.

All this from one elitist Internet user..

>--
>Best Regards, Dr. Peter Kittel       //    Visit  http://www.amiga.de
>Private Site in Frankfurt, Germany \X/  Email to: [e-mail]
>Employed at AMIGA Technologies GmbH in Bensheim, Germany

-=*George*=-