¢AMS95¢¢by Kevin Cooke, November 1995¢¢¢ For those that didn't know, it was THAT time of the year again - the time when every Atari user tries to make it to the All Micro Show (AMS) held in Staffordshire, England. Once again, I will tell you about my experiences there, not only describing what happened at the show but also what happened before and after.¢¢Before¢¢ For many users, I'm sure the show starts on the day itself. For me, preparing for it starts weeks beforehand. Being a student, I only have a part-time job and so have to save in advance. This time I managed to save over 150 pounds - pretty good going.¢¢ This year I decided to pre-order a few things as I thought it might be be easier than trying to remember everything on the day of the show Thus, I ordered some ST PD disks from Page 6 (for my newly aquired Atari ST) and XL/XE software from Derek Fern.¢¢ I was now ready for the big day.¢¢On the day¢¢ The day always starts for me with an early rise and a bit of breakfast. As I don't drive, this also means that the same applies for my Dad who always volunteers to take me, bless him! After leaving 15 minutes late, we stopped off to pick up one of my friends (an Amiga owner) and spent what seemed like the next century traveling through pouring rain. A quick stop at a motorway station for a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea each (costing an incredible total of ELEVEN POUNDS!) and we were at the show ground.¢¢ As usual, there were plenty of places to park although the parking area did look a lot fuller than normal - a good sign from the point of view of the exhibitors. Unusually, our car didn't end up in a muddy space - things were looking up!¢¢ At this point I must congratulate Sharward Services for their entrance pricing policy - as usual, entry was very cheap at 2.50 (or 1.50 if you are an OAP, student or have one of the hundreds of money-off vouchers which are sent out).¢¢ Once inside, I made straight for the TWAUG (PO Box 8, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear NE28 6BU) stand. Sadly, as most readers will know, David Ewens from TWAUG died just a few weeks before the show. I knew how much he was looking forward to it so it was a shame that he didn't get to attend just one last time.¢¢ Whilst there, I stopped for a few minutes just to say hello to Max, John and Tommy. As usual, TWAUG had some great offers - Tommy was even trying to give the cassettes away! How about buying one of the disk games and getting a couple of cassettes for free? Or how about cassettes at 5-20p each? As you can see, all bargains.¢¢ Next, I went to the Atari Self Help Group (2 Northcote Street, Easton, Bristol BS5 OJS) stand. Mark Rice seemed to be running the stand and had loads of 8-bit/ST hardware for sale at reasonable prices. He also had a few 8-bit cassette games and LOADS of ST software. I had a quick chat with him (he lives quite locally and fixed my Atari ST when it broke down - cheers for that!) but I didn't purchase anything at this time - I intended to come back again later.¢¢ Next I went to Derek Fern's stand, Micro Discount (265 Chester Road, Streetly, West Midlands B74 3EA). Again, Derek had loads of bargains such as cartridges for 50p each and a couple of "bargain boxes" in which everything was 10p - there were even a couple of disks in this box but it mostly contained Zeppelin tapes. I was intending to collect my pre-ordered software but, upon seeing the size of the box it was all nicely packaged in, I decided to leave it there and collect it later. I also took the opportunity to buy Crime Buster (a light gun cartridge) for 7.50 - about half it's normal price.¢¢ Next I went to the Page 6 (PO Box 54, Stafford, ST16 1DR) stand. They had loads of cassettes for sale and some magazine back-issues but not much else. However, that which was being sold was at bargain prices. Again, I was going to collect my PD software but decided to collect it later on.¢¢ I next visited LACE, the London Atari Computer Enthusiasts (14 Nicholas Close, South Ockendon, Essex RM15 6NJ). They had loads of software on their stand, again selling at quite cheap prices. There was also a load of ST software so I bought some of each.¢¢ By now my money was already decreasing but I had a look at Dean Garraghty's (62 Thomson Avenue, Balby, Doncaster DN4 ONU) stand. Unusually, he didn't have much second-hand software for sale but he did have some hardware. Richard Gore was also exhibiting on his stand and was selling quite a few items of software - Tube Baddies, GTracker, Black Lamp, etc. I bought Clip Tracker XE but, unfortunately, couldn't buy anything else as I already had most of them.¢¢ Well, that was all of the Atari 8-bit specific stands. However, there was much more besides. If there was ANYTHING you needed for your computer you could have probably bought it at AMS. Mice, mouse mats, disks, disk boxes, printers, monitors, computers, etc. all at either reasonable or bargain prices. There were also stands selling ST, PC, Amiga, Commodore, Spectrum, Dragon and Amstrad software and hardware. This year, the PC did seem to be more prominent. Let's hope that this isn't a trend for future shows!¢¢ At 2pm I went back to the TWAUG stand as I had arranged, by letter, to meet John Foskett. It was very interesting to meet someone who I had written to but never met before - we both agreed that neither of us looked like the other had imagined! John told me about the new software which he has planned but also had some bad news. At the moment, support for his software has been almost non-existant. If this continues, he says that he will have no choice but to move over to the PC. He is already planning to buy one BUT will continue working on the 8-bit if people buy his software. I urge you all to contact him immediately and at least enquire about his software - I've tried some of it and it is excellent. His address is 26 Auckland Road, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey, KT1 3BG. Don't let us lose another Atari supporter.¢¢ After re-visiting most stands (and bumping into Tommy from the TWAUG stand three times!) and having a last minute spend at each, it was time to leave. I said my goodbyes, collected my ordered software and we set off on the long journey home, all carrying considerably lighter wallets! We stopped only once on the way back, this time for a doughnut and cup of tea each, and it cost us a ridiculous SEVEN POUNDS! How do they get away with it! With weightless wallets we finally arrived home.¢¢After¢¢ Of course, the show doesn't end when you leave. When I got home, I still had to unpack, examine and sort out all of my software. I still have LOADS left to try and, even worse, my order of 10 PD disks from NOSAUG arrived this morning! So whilst I'm sipping tea from my Atari mug, I'm still enjoying the show a week later. If you didn't go this year, why not try your best to go next time and, for now, write to the companies listed above and ask them for information. For those that did go, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. See you there next year!¢¢¢-----¢¢¢Ed: Another Futurian has written with a mini-report of the show. It is an uncompromising report, and as such he wishes to remain annonymous... ¢¢ "The TWAUG stand was not up to its usual standard without David Ewens. I just hope that the club can continue without him. Derek Fern was very busy but it was rather disappointing to find that he hadn't reduced any of his prices for the show (none that I noticed). Page 6 was there, I don't know why they bothered. LACE seemed to be doing well - they had a well-stocked stall and there were some bargains to be had. DGS were down to their usual standard, and Mark Rice had a well-stocked stall with bargains to be had, especially for ST enthusiasts. Overall, I can't see the 8-bit being supported at the shows much longer."¢
