EnigmA Amiga Run 1995 November/EnigmA AMIGA RUN 02 (1995)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1995-11][Skylink CD].iso/earcd/docs/lwml9504.lha/LIGHTWAVE-APR95/000659_owner-lightwave-l _Sun Apr 23 17:39:20 1995.msg

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Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 18:00:03 -0400
Subject: Interview with ESCOM and C= UK (fwd)
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Some more interesting Commodore Buyout news(interviews) I received in my
mailbox today....

>WARNING!<  This is a BIG file!


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>==========================================================================
>    INTERVIEWS: Bernard van Tienen of Escom, Colin Proudfoot of C= UK
>               Conducted by Josh Galun and Giorgio Gomelsky
>    [e-mail]                              [e-mail]
>==========================================================================
>
>(Josh Galun, editor of Amiga Link Online magazine, and Giorgio Gomelsky of
>the AMUSE Amiga user group were lucky [or unlucky enough, depends on your
>viewpoint] to be at the hearing today...they got two candidates for
>interviews, too...-Jason)
>
>Interview with Bernard van Tienen ESCOM.  Friday April 21, 1995
>[van Tienen is a former vice-president of Commodore International.]
>
>by Josh Galun (JG) assisted by Giorgio Gomelsky (GG)
>
>JG: How much can you say about your plans for the Amiga?
>
>BvT: We are setting up a group of advisors to advice us which products we
>should produce and we are digging into every product solutions not only
>Amigas but other products like Commodore products, TV set-top boxes, we
>are considering PowerPCs with Amiga, we are considering everything at the
>moment.
>
>JG: How soon do you think you'll be able to have Amigas in production?
>
>BvT: We haven't decided yet, but we have all the links with the factories.
>Escom is a big European group at the moment, we assemble our own machines,
>we have all the contacts with the manufacturers, we spoke already with
>them, the only thing is which product should we produce, which quality an
>then we get started.  We presume we'll have the first products, the first
>Amiga products on the market within 3 months...
>
>JG: As I understand it, ESCOM is one of the biggest computer-sellers in
>Europe, I assume AMIGAS will be in all their stores, is that true?
>
>BvT: Not only Amigas but we will also produce Commodore PCs, ja, and of
>course we will use our own stores in Europe but besides that we will
>distribute products into other countries and also to other dealers in
>Europe...
>
>JG: The Amiga has a very vibrant community as well as many public domain
>programmers, do you plan to use them in any way or contact them and ask
>them what they think...
>
>BvT: Of course, of course, ja...
>
>JG: With the developers as well?
>
>BvT: Ja, ja, everybody will be involved...as many as possible to advice us
>on the Commodore and Amiga products...
>
>JG: Do you plan to attempt to hire any of the technicians who used to be
>with Commodore?
>
>BvT: Of course, we are already busy with it and already have some
>contracts.  But a lot of Commodoore people are already working for ESCOM,
>for instance I was vice-president of Commodore International, Peter
>Tachenko...  I think there are already roughly 100 ex-Commodore people
>working for ESCOM at the moment.
>
>JG: Do you have a position on whether you would license the Amiga
>technology and software to clone-makers?
>
>BvT: Not only to clone makers but also to people who want to produce
>products and need some of our licences.  We are already busy with that,
>we've made some principal contacts, ja, on that.
>
>JG: How long have you been working to try and buy what was left of
>Commodore?
>
>BvT: We started with it, let's see, eh, last year in August 1994.
>
>JG: Had ESCOM been interested in the Amiga before the buy-out, in having
>Amigas in their stores?
>
>BvT: The point is that ESCOM.  ...must have lasted 3/4 years.  We sold
>Amigas in the past in our stores...
>
>JOSH TAKES A BREAK
>
>GG: You are aware that the Amiga has a tremendously loyal following?
>
>BvT: We know Commodore very well because I was vice-president of Commodore
>International and I know everybody and everything about C= of course...
>
>GG: Do you intend to use this energy that comes from the passion of the
>Amiga users?
>
>BvT: Of course, of course, the biggest asset is not only the name and the
>products but also the user-groups.  There are millions of Amiga users and
>even more 64 users still, ja.  We are also planning to roll out products
>in China and other countries...
>
>GG: How would you achieve this contact with the users?  Would you put up a
>site on the Internet?
>
>BvT: We haven't decided yet but everything is possible.  Also we would use
>the magazines of course, there are hundreds of magazines, so ok, we
>haven't got the deal yet, but as you heard in the court now it looks like
>we'll get the deal in a couple of weeks, we have planned a lot but now
>we'll be able to roll it out, ja?  So give us some time, ja, we'll
>consider everything...
>
>GG: Could the users be in touch with you, say over the next month or so
>and communicate their concern?
>
>BvT: Ja, we will install people everywhere, in Europe, in the States.
>Call me and I will tell you who and where they are.  We are aware of the
>frustrations users had under the old management...
>
>JOSH GETS BACK
>
>JG: Do you have any plans already in place or being discussed with CEI
>about working with them on the Amiga?
>
>BvT:  We can't disclose that at the moment.
>
>JG: Was C= UK part of the buy-out?
>
>BvT (pointing at Colin Proudfoot passing by): That's C= UK...  "Ok, Colin,
>see you next week, ok?" It's not part of the deal at the moment, but next
>week we have an apoointment with C= to see what we can do with them.  We
>are talking with them...
>
>JG: Do you have plans to work with them or to possibly buy them out?
>
>BvT: Both are possible...
>
>GG: My main concern is for the users, this has been a long slog...
>
>BvT: Yes, I think it is a good thing that finally there is this sale.  We
>already wanted to buy last year, but we couldn't proceed, we couldn't
>hurry it up, ja, it took so long...
>
>JG: Can I ask you a bit of a personal question?  Do you own an Amiga
>yourself?  Which one"
>
>BvT: I don't own an Amiga at the moment...
>
>JG (smiling): But you're planning on getting one, yeah?
>
>BvT: I,I,I..I've used Amiga in the past, ja, in my office.  I'll get a new
>one that's coming out, we don't know what spec it will be, we are working
>on it hard at the moment...
>
>JG: Do you have any plans to have some online chats on the Internet?  Do
>make more use of the Internet?
>
>BvT: Of course the Internet is going around right now, it's very popular
>in the States, also booming right now in Europe, so ja, something will
>happen...  We will set up support groups to get to know what is going on
>all over the place...
>
>JG: Do you plan to make separate Amiga packages with software bundles,
>let's say a Modem Package, a Game Package, as C= UK has done in the past?
>
>BvT: It worked very well out in the UK, I know the figures because I was
>involved and everything is possible...but we can also bring out other
>products under the Amiga name, ja, we can also bring other technology into
>the Amiga, if you want, ja, we haven't defined it yet but we are
>considering everything and we expect a lot from Commodore and Amiga,
>otherwise we wouldn't have bought it, ja?
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------



---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Friday April 21, 1995, outside US Bankruptcy Court building 4:15pm
>
>Interview with Colin Proudfoot of C= UK
>
>by Josh Galun
>
>Missed first question
>
>CP: C= UK is waiting for this thing to be over.  We then look forward to
>working with ESCOM and reviewing their plans for the future of Commodore
>cause they're gonna drive the technology and in effect they are quit
>likely to end up the owners of the C= UK business.
>
>JG: Do you believe ESCOM will buy C=UK as they exist right now or do you
>believe they will license you as clone-makers?
>
>CP: I don't think ESCOM will leave C=UK outside its organization, so it's
>a technical question in acoounting terms whether it's expedient for them
>to keep the corporate identity as it is today or create a new corporate
>identity or use their existing structure and merge the C=UK within that.
>I think that was is key is that they will retain a lot of the staff from
>the UK organization because we have the expertise on the market place.
>
>JG: If you were allowed to make your own plans for the UK market of the
>Amiga, what would they be?  If ESCOM gave you that, how would market the
>Amiga and make it viable again?
>
>CP: I don't think that is a realistic question because if you look at the
>market place as a whole you can't exclude the UK from the rest of Europe
>or the rest of the world.  Computing nowadays is very much a global market
>and we would have to fall in line with ESCOM.  A regards to what marketing
>plans we would see, David Pleasance has outlined the plans he would have
>for the market place and the products and how it would develop.  In fact
>he will be talking to ESCOM about these things next week and we will see
>how many of those ideas they will wish to adopt.
>
>JG: So you're saying that there is nothing that separates the UK market
>from the rest of the European market or the global market?
>
>CP: Europe is now a common market and there are no technical bounderies
>for free movement of goods and services so a product that's launched in
>the UK one day we'll find in Germany the next day, or in Holland or in
>Danmark.
>
>JG: I heard that C=UK has good developers' relationships.  Have you been
>talking to them about the buyout and what information have you gotten from
>them that might be helpful to ESCOM?
>
>CP: Well the UK has a very strong software community and a lot of
>developers are based in there and we've been talking to them throughout
>the buyout, we've been discussing ideas for eventual new products and I
>think ESCOM will be very interested in the discussion that we had and the
>results of those discussions.
>
>JG: Is there any technology that C=UK has that has not been released or
>that it still owns the rights to?
>
>CP: C=UK has never owned any of the rights to the technology, it's merely
>been a licensee.  All rights have always been held by CEL in the Bahamas
>or Commodore-Amiga in California.  To come back to the developers, we
>recognise and I think the ESCOM people recognise how important the
>relationships with the development community are and on behalf of David
>and myself I wish to thank the development community for their support
>over the last 12 months.  It' been absolutely tremendous, we couldn't have
>asked for any more support or any better encouragement from the guys all
>around the world.  Hopefully we're looking forward to working with ESCOM
>working with the developers' community and putting the Amiga back on top
>of the market place, which is what we wanted all along.
>
>JG: The US is a very competitive, intense and big market.  Do you think
>ESCOM will want tto and are able to attack it properly?
>
>CP: You should ask them.  I can only speculate and have a personal opinion
>and I would say the following: ESCOM have been phenomenally successful as
>a PC vendor in Europe and they have grown the business tremendously.
>Where do they go from there?  They look to North America.  How they
>penetrate the American market?  Can they do it with a "me-too" computer?
>No they can't!  So therefore they need a product to differentiate
>themselves from the rest of the competition and just maybe, just maybe,
>the Amiga is that product.
>
>JG: What are your personal feelings about the end of the buyout?
>
>CP: I'm very glad it's over!
>
>JG: Are you an Amiga user yourself?
>
>CP: I have a CD32 at home and in the office a Commodore 486 PC.
>
>JG: Do you have any plans of switching to the Amiga?
>
>CP: I am not a technologist I am a businessman.  What I do is I talk to
>David Pleasance and the rest of the guys in the UK to get an understanding
>from them about the technology and its applications.  My job is business.
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Interesting stuff....maybe I won't be buying a PC after all....

                                      -David Warner
                                       Event Horizon Graphics