An article by Brian Walker following on from last issue's article.¢----------------------------------¢¢In issue 8 of the News-Disk I was wondering about the future of home computing. That is, as opposed to just home games playing machines.¢¢What kind of computer would I own after my Atari 8-bit finally succumbed to old-age? My guess was that whatever it was it wouldn't be made by Atari.¢¢Shortly after writing that article I was walking past an electrical store and noticed that the price of the new Commodore Amiga 600 had been slashed by 100 pounds, a 25% reduction. No, this isn't an advert for Commodore, I was just very surprised and thought that the recession really must be biting.¢¢However the greatest surprise came a little bit later on when I was scanning the computer magazine section in the local newsagents. Atari had announced the launch of a new machine, the Falcon.¢¢I had thought that Atari were going to concentrate their efforts on a new games machine, code-named the Jaguar, and the high-end TTs.¢Maybe the price cut on the Amiga was a marketing ploy to try get as many sales as possible before the Falcon hit the shops.¢¢I bought all the magazines which contained information on the Falcon. Not all that many, only the ST specific magazines featured it. Housed in an ST case but in a darker colour, apparently it is as revolutionary in concept as the 800 was when it was first introduced. This is achieved by using a Digital Signal Processor. Actually, not being technically minded this doesn't mean much to me and since the Falcon is supposed to be a mass market consumer product Atari's advertising department will have to work overtime to demonstrate to me and the market what its capabilities are, AND to demonstrate that it is a complete machine. No more relying on the first batch of buyers to discover the bugs in the operating system etc.¢¢Will I be buying a Falcon? Well the entry level machine seems to be priced at about 500 pounds. For a supposedly mass market computer that is a lot of money. For a mass market computer priced at 500 pounds in a recession that is far too much. As one shopkeeper being interviewed on television put it, "If people can't eat it, drink it or wear it, they just don't want to know."¢¢Perhaps the drop in price by Commodore wasn't a marketing ploy. Perhaps it WAS a response to poor sales caused by the recession.¢¢Even if the Falcon does do well it seems to be an application based machine aimed at the type of person with a specific job to do such as somebody who bought an ST for its MIDI capabilities.¢¢I require a computer for game-playing, but also more importantly now, for education - "to learn about computers."¢¢The Falcon would be too overpowered and expensive for my needs. No,I won't be buying a Falcon I will be sticking with my 130XE for some time to come.¢¢** The new Amiga 600 is 100pounds less because it is just a 500 with a load of the ports taken out. It's been shrunk down for the games player market. Ed. **¢
