-=-=-=-=-=-¢¢ OUT OF THE PACK - #1¢ by Kevin Packard, WNYAUG, excerpts¢ (and free use of EDITORS license),¢ reprinted by OL' HACKER A.U.G., Inc.¢ with permission, and our thanks!¢¢ (From the Editor: The following¢ article in our opinion is a MUST READ¢ for all 8 BIT owners. The "BEAST"¢ (ATARI), is not dead, I detect a¢ flutter of life. Perhaps ATARI Corp.¢ may open its eyes and see what has¢ been obvious to us all along. THE 8¢ BIT IS ALIVE AND WELL, and an all 8¢ BIT CLASSIC magazine may give it more¢ strength yet!) I have 2¢ articles in the works but last Friday¢ I received the Atari Corporation¢ Annual Report for 1991. I thought I¢ would make a couple of comments about¢ it. The 1991 report is a¢ departure from previous years. The¢ report is just that, the necessary¢ facts and figures in a plain package.¢ The glossy pages with pictures of the¢ products are missing. The only colors¢ are black and white with a touch of¢ gray on the cover (white pages, black¢ letters). In Sam Tramiel's letter to¢ the shareholders, he apologized for¢ the "frugal appearance, but not the¢ money we saved." (Ed. A good start¢ for the up- ward climb in the open¢ market!) I wish the company I¢ worked for had this much sense. After¢ seeing my raise and then estimating¢ the cost of the annual report¢ something tells me that ITS¢ priorities are screwed up. The¢ letter to the shareholders was on the¢ inside cover and continued on the¢ back inside. I only mention this¢ because I didn't read the fine print¢ and it took me a couple of minutes to¢ find the second half. I guess I can¢ sum it up by saying, "All is not well¢ in Atari land." (ED. but the mere¢ fact that common sense of cutting¢ back costs shows that ATARI may be¢ awakening.) Sales were down,¢ inventory was down, costs were down,¢ liabilities were down, and research¢ costs were down. Just remember that¢ DOWN IS NOT ALWAYS BAD!¢¢ The list of products that Atari is¢ selling is impressive although I have¢ not seen all of them at the local¢ Atari dealer. The STE, ST BOOK, and¢ TT accounted for 53% of sales and¢ were the first to get mentioned. PC-¢ compatibles (the Portfolio, ABC386SX¢ and ABC386DX) represented 10%.¢¢ Lower sales of the 2600 and 7800 game¢ machines were partially offset by the¢ sale of the LYNX. The Lynx actually¢ had an increase of 80% for units sold¢ over the 1990 figure.¢ If you remember, the 1990 report¢ did NOT mention the Atari XE¢ Microcomputer Series.¢¢ In 1991 on page 4 in letters¢ the size of the rest are the words¢ "The Atari XE 8-bit Microcomputer¢ Series", (I prefer that to GAME¢ MACHINE as often used). What it said¢ is this: "Atari's XE(tm) series¢ of computers are targeted for the¢ price conscious markets. The 65XE(tm)¢ and 130XE(tm) have 64k and 128k of¢ RAM, and generally retail for less¢ than $100 and $150, respectively.¢ Both are supported by a variety of¢ peripheral equipment and a variety of¢ software titles including¢ entertainment software. This computer¢ line retains compatibility with the¢ Company's previous generation 8-bit¢ computer systems, i.e., the 400 and¢ 800XL computers." I will now¢ spit in the eye of the dog who said¢ the Atari 8 BIT is dead. Atari¢ has spent a lot of time and effort¢ getting their affairs in order.¢ Hopefully these efforts will bear¢ fruit in the next couple of years. We¢ should be seeing signs of this by the¢ end of 1992. (ED. If the release of¢ the "FALCON" computer is as good as¢ claimed then PHOENIX MAY YET RISE¢ FROM THE ASH) Sam Tramiel's¢ closing words to the shareholders are¢ to all of us. "As I look forward to¢ the year ahead, I would like to thank¢ our shareholders, suppliers,¢ employees, customers and end-users¢ for their continued support." ¢ -=-=-= end -=-=-=-¢¢
