Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0107/motorcty.txt

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 14KB | 232 lines

NOTICE: This article originally appeared in the February issue of Atari
Interface Magazine and may be freely distributed or reprinted in non-profit
User Group publications as long as the article's author and Atari Interface
Magazine are credited AND this notice is reprinted with the article.  All
other publications must obtain written permission from Unicorn Publications,
3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, Phone: [phone] before using
this article.

Atari Support in the "Motor City"
An outsider's view

by Gregg Anderson (RACE)

Hi folks.  I just returned from a little visit with the family in Detroit,
Michigan and thought I'd pass on a few tidbits of info.  Contrary to popular
opinion, Atari is NOT dead in the heartland of America.  And while not as
robust as it once was, Atari dealer support there is also far from terminal.

Much to the annoyance of my sister and brother-in-law, one of the first things
I did after landing at Detroit Metro was to grab six pounds worth of yellow
pages and list all the Atari dealers I could find.  Would you believe that
there are seven Atari dealers still in business in Detroit and its surrounding
communities?  I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.  I live in South Dakota
where the nearest Atari dealer is in Denver -- about 425 miles as the Jeep
rolls.

Despite some of the nastiest winter weather Detroit has seen in the last
twenty years (rain, snow, sleet, ice, power outages, and roads only an ice
skating polar bear could love), I pressed on and visited six of the seven
dealers.  The seventh is primarily a mail order business and doesn't have a
real "storefront."  What follows is a list of the Detroit area dealers with a
short description of the shop and what they offer.  I'll wrap everything up
with a summary of how the surviving Atari dealers responded when asked about
Atari and its computers.

1)  Basic Bits 'N' Bytes    34815 Ford Road (Westland), 313-595-3171.

Basic Bits 'N' Bytes is a full service Atari dealer offering productivity and
entertainment software for the ST owner as well as software support for a
handful of other systems.  There was a large selection of European games on
display as well as the more familiar domestic titles.  Basic handles the full
Atari line along with a few PC clones.  They're also an Atari service center
and offer a selection of domestic and imported Atari magazines.  There were
two 1040ST systems available for demos in addition to a PC clone or two.
Estimated cost for a TOS 1.4 upgrade was $99 (6 chip) and for a 520ST 1 Meg
upgrade the cost was $150.  As a side note; Basic used to be a six store
franchise.  They are now down to a single sales center of average size (though
a busy one, the phone never stopped ringing while I was there).

2)  Soft House Computer Center    32647 Ford Road (Garden City),
313-422-6760.

For hardware, Soft House handles only the ST line, though they do offer
software for a few non-Atari systems.  Unfortunately, they had to drop their
8bit support some time ago.  They're serious about selling the ST though and
were actively demoing a 1040 system to a new customer while I was there.  Soft
House is an authorized Atari service center (with full time technician) and
offers a wide range of domestic and imported Atari magazines.  As with Basic,
the salesperson I spoke with was well informed on Atari related matters and
very positive on the system's capabilities.  They offer a wide selection of
productivity and entertainment software and have a surprisingly large
assortment of European titles not generally available here in the USA.
Estimated cost of a TOS 1.4 upgrade was $99 (6 chip) and for a 1Meg upgrade
the cost would be $200 (socketed).

3)  Rite Way Computers    11557 12 Mile Road (Warren), 313-751-2454.

In both total size and overall selection, Rite Way is the largest computer
dealer I visited.  They offer full support for the Atari ST, Atari 8bit, Laser
Apple clone and a number of PC Clones.  As with the two previous shops, Rite
Way is an authorized Atari service center and has a software selection that
almost boggles the mind.  There were literally rows upon rows of titles from
both the US and Europe (though I must admit there were many multiple copies of
the same package present).  All in all, it was an impressive display of both
hardware and software.  While there, I watched a professional demonstration of
the ST's MIDI capabilities being given to a customer on a
Mega4/SLM804/Megafile system.  The individuals I spoke with seemed well
informed about their products and more than willing to take the time to help a
potential customer. Interestingly enough, the only computer that seemed to
attract interest while I was there was an Atari ST system.  Rite Way charges
$104 for a TOS 1.4 upgrade and $175 for a 1 Meg upgrade.

4)  Command Computer Systems Inc.    28630 Ryan Road (Warren), 313-573-8130.

Though an active Atari dealer since 1981, Command Systems was the smallest
Atari dealer I visited.  This by no means implies that they don't support the
Atari line, but it does say that they've been forced to expand into other
systems at the expense of their Atari availability.  Command Computers
supports both the ST and the 8bit systems and actually sold more 8bits over
the Christmas holiday than they did STs.  The best seller for them this year
was the 130XE.  Command Computer is an Atari service center and capable of
handling repairs on any of Atari's systems.

5)  Sector One International  16 Mile Road and Dequinder (Sterling Heights)
313-978-2208.

Sector One was a major surprise for me, a store totally dedicated to the Atari
8bit computer.  Yes, they have an ST or two available, but 99% of the store is
devoted to the original Atari computer and to little else.  I saw software and
hardware items there I hadn't seen in years, in fact I've not seen this type
of 8bit support anywhere since early '83.  The shop is owned and operated by
someone who's name should be familiar to any 8bit owner; Jim Steinbrecker
(father of the original A-Modem terminal program).  Jim is probably the most
knowledgeable man I've ever met on the 8bit Atari and is without doubt the
most supportive of that system.  As he says, "it's possible to outgrow a
specific computer, but no computer is ever truly obsolete.  Least of all the
Atari XE which is as capable a system as any."  What can I say, if you've a
question or a problem with any 8bit Atari computer system or are looking for
that specific program for your 8bit than this is the shop to visit.

6)  Team Computers    22205 Kelly (East Detroit), 313-445- 2983.

Team Computers was the hardest for me to find but only because I was starting
out from the far west corner of Detroit.  Team handles the complete line of
Atari computers along with a line of Amstrad PC clones.  As with most of the
other area dealers, they are a full service dealer and registered service
center for all Atari systems.  Team was also one of the few shops I visited
that had a complete Mega4/SLM804/Megafile30 DTP system up and running on
display.  In fact, they had three ST systems and an XE system set up for
demos. Both individuals I spoke with seemed very familiar with the Atari line
and only too willing to extol it's strengths and advantages over the
competition.  Team Computers even use their STs to support an active DTP and
graphics production center they operate from their store.  As with Basic, Soft
House and Rite Way, they offer an impressive display of domestic and imported
software for the ST and a surprisingly large selection of 8bit software as
well.  Team charges $99.95 for a TOS 1.4 upgrade and $175 for a 1Meg upgrade
on a 520ST.  7)  Innovative Concepts    31172 Shawn Drive (Warren), 313-
293-0730

Don't bother to try and visit Innovative Concepts, they don't have a regular
show room like the rest of the Detroit area Atari stores.  That's because they
are first and foremost an mail-order shop for the Atari line.  They advertise
in many of the more popular Atari related magazines (and many of the larger
newsletters).  Currently they are enjoying great success with their line of
specialty cables for the Blitz back-up system and the always popular XFormer
ST to 1050 cable.  For specific details on what Innovative Concepts has to
offer be sure to check out their latest advertisement in your newsletter or
favorite magazine.

There you have them, seven Atari dealers in the Detroit metropolitan area.
Since Detroit and its surrounding communities have over three million
inhabitants, that works out to almost 1/2 million people per Atari dealer.
Not so impressive when you consider how many MS-DOS, Apple, and What-have-you
dealers are available in the same area.  Still, it's better than it might have
been and may even improve if Atari takes the right steps over the next year.
But before you think I'm being overly optimistic let me point out that the
present number of Atari dealers is only a fraction of what it used to be.

Three years ago Basic was only one of six stores with the same name, and
others have "bit the big one."  Shops like Strom, United Computer, Claus and
others have all either dropped the Atari line or gone out of business.

What did the remaining Atari dealers have to say about Atari and its
computers? Without exception, ALL were supportive of Atari's hardware.  They
like the ST and feel it offers an outstanding value in the price/performance
area.  They like the ST's reliability, its power, and even its software.

What they don't like is its lack of availability and some of the policies of
the Atari corporation itself.  The number one dealer complaint was Atari's
total lack of national advertising.  Most dealers find it difficult to sell a
product that no one (outside of the "inner circle" of Atari supporters) knows
exists.

The second major problem was a serious lack of product availability.  1040 and
Mega2 systems were in serious demand over the last few months here as were
monochrome monitors, yet these were virtually unavailable to Detroit area
dealers.

The third problem (but generally the most mentioned) was the poor dealer
support offered by Atari.  Often dealers found themselves the last to be
notified of new products, left out of distribution chains, and generally
ignored except when it came to paying bills.

Fourth was the problem of promises made but not kept.  Several dealers
complained about Atari's promise to not announce or discuss products before
shipping them, and then doing exactly that (IE: Portfolio, STacy, TT, ect).
This tends to cut badly into sales of current hardware.  Coupled with that
complaint was Atari's release of the Portfolio with an "Atari only" order
phone number that totally cut out the local dealers long before any of them
could get their hands on a Portfolio.  The general difficulty in contacting
and working with the local Atari Representative was mentioned as a problem,
along with a reduction in available software support for the ST (mainly from
US companies).

Finally the failure of 3rd party companies to repackage older programs "on the
cheap" and release them was mentioned, though this applies mainly to older
8bit software.  Overall the feeling of the dealers was that they couldn't
survive as an Atari only dealer, that most had to offer some clone support to
stay in business.

So how was business?  Two of the Detroit area dealers reported that their
Christmas season was good to very good, two reported no real change and two
reported a decline in sales.  As for the overall year of 1989, the report was
less encouraging.  Four reported that sales were stable but generally below
expectations.  Two actually had a decrease in sales over the previous year,
though they chalked that up to a generally lackluster retail market.  This is
not good news folks, when the best report I can get is one of stable overall
sales.  That means trouble even in a slow year.  A lack of growth is the same
thing as stagnation, and stagnation is the first step in decay.

Not everything is negative though.  Most dealers admitted that as difficult as
Atari is to work with, they're really no worse than Apple, IBM, CBM or any of
the others.  In fact several dealers confessed that Atari was generally more
willing to listen to them than other computer companies.  One dealer explained
that Atari's main problem was one of "no flash," that Atari just isn't as
noticeable as the competition.

So what's my over all feeling?  First of all, that there is a lot of support
for Atari in the Detroit area, if you're willing to drive a little ways to
reach it.  Second is that almost all of the area dealers are VERY positive on
the ST system and are willing to go out of their way to support it.  Third is
that Atari itself should try a little harder to help and support its dealer
force, and that the Detroit area dealers would be only too willing to help
them do that.

Lastly is that driving in Detroit is an experience in and of itself.   It's
not that the roads are in terrible shape (though thanks to the cold, salt, and
traffic most of them are), or that they drive like it's the last lap at the
Indy 500 (they do). It's more a feeling of being trapped in a combat zone
without warning.

All kidding aside, despite the rough roads, high speeds, and ice covered
intersections (including the one that got my brother-in-law T-boned), the
drivers of Detroit showed themselves to be skilled and courteous, giving this
out-of-town visitor more than a few breaks.

Just as an aside, there is a large and active User Group presence in the
Detroit area.  User Groups such as MACE, GLASS, MAGIC and (in Windsor,
Ontario) WAUG offer support for area Atari owners.  For information on these
groups, see the Detroit area Atari dealers or Atari Interface Magazine.