Aminet 3/Aminet 3 - July 1994.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/Commodore.lzh/Commodore_3

Internet Message Format | 1994-05-03 | 5.6 KB

From [e-mail] Tue May  3 11:58:44 1994
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: [e-mail] (Jorg Schmidt)
Subject: We must be crazy...NOT!!!
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1]
Date: Sun, 1 May 1994 10:05:33 GMT

                            Commodore going out of business
                            A software company's response

In the last few weeks, there has been much talk about what would happen
if C= dies. Now it *HAS* happend. And many people will panic. They will
sell their hardware, they will switch the platform or whatever. But I
say: There's no need for that. There's no need to throw away
thousands of dollars in hardware and software investments. Why? Because
of market economy!

Some of you may know MAXON, one of the biggest software vendors for the
Amiga on the German market. And almost at the same day Commodore is going
out of business, we - MediaDesk in Campbell, California - start to
introduce at least two of their products to the U.S. market. And even
after this sad day we stick to our plan. Why is this so? How can anybody
who is in his right mind start selling software for this platform,
when the manufacturer has just filed for bankruptcy?

There are three reasons:

1.) The Amiga Market IS a market. It has been a market yesterday,
and it will be the same market tomorrow. The machines are not
going up in smoke. People USE the Amiga. They need software. They need
hardware. They need support. And they will continue to do so. For years to
come.

The German Atari market is almost in the same situation. A
market almost without participation of Atari. But the magazines are
still there, software is still being written and thousands of copies have
been sold and will continue to sell. Because not everybody cares
if he has the first, second or third best selling computer system of all
times. They care just about their own machine, their everyday work.

And because there are so many loyal Amiga users out there, even the
not-so-loyal should *AT LEAST* wait and see what happens.

2.) The Amiga market has the "right" size. Many developers think that
publishing software for Mac or Windows is like paradise on earth. As if
having a Windows or Mac application is like a blank check. But this is
not so - in fact, to enter a mainstream market like those you make
money on volume. It is as if you would start selling toothpaste. Ok,
buying toothpaste is just a $1.49-decision. But to get it into people's
heads that your product is in the shelf at all, you may need a $20 Million
advertising campaign. And that's the way the Windows and Mac market work.

And the Amiga market is not too small, either. Maybe 500,000 active Amiga
users in the U.S. & Canada. Maybe more, maybe less. Imagine they would all
live in one city. And imgine you had a retail store there,
selling two or three unique Amiga software products.
Wouldn't you do pretty well?

And in some sense the Amiga community IS like this city.
There's just a few publications, but everybody reads them.
Amiga users think alike. Amiga users know each other. Mac users *MAY* know
each other. Windows users hate each other (well, sometimes also Amiga users
in this newsgroup hate each other, but this is a different story :-)

Or let's just assume this for a minute: You were an entrepreneur
specializing in mousetraps. For some technical reason, your mousetrap works
only on hardwood floors. Now somebody would tell you about a multi-
million-dollar market with hundrets of thousands of potential customers
in need for a better mousetrap. They all read "HardwoodWorld" and they
really love their floor. Wouldn't you be interested? We certainly would!
And for marketing this mousetrap, would you care if this market gains or
loses a few thousand potential customers a year? We wouldn't.

So the Amiga market *IS* still attractive. Not because of technical
features. Not out of emotional reasons. But simply for its economics. And
other companies know that as well. Software/Hardware support will not stop
on monday. Most companies could not even afford to stop Amiga support. And
they don't have to, if you, the users and developers, don't panic.

3.) The Amiga technology will probably be sold to some other company
without being linked to Commodore's debts. This is how we interpret the
recent posting from West Chester in this group. If - whoever buys it -
is smart, they realize that the most important asset the Amiga has
is the loyal user base rather than the technology (IMHO).

As far as we are concerned, we continue localizing and marketing
our products, literally as if nothing had happened. Because *IN FACT* nothing
has happened, at least not to existing Amiga users. Simillar
to the German Atari market, we may really feel the impact of
this day's event one or two years from now.

Now you have to decide for yourself: Should you, the user or developer,
trash your Amiga and start from scratch on a new platform spending
big amounts of time and money on an unclear future on new terrain?

We won't. Because we're better off the other way. And I think, that's true
for most of us. What do you think? E-mail us or post here!

Thanks in advance for your comments!




--
Take it easy,

Jorg

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