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From: Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Vapourware!!!
Message-ID: <24384@cup.portal.com>
Date: 23 Nov 89 07:29:28 GMT
References: <8911070804.AA12600@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <9802@zodiac.ADS.COM>
  <24310@cup.portal.com> <1817@atari.UUCP>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
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Replying to Ken Badertscher's comments...
 
Ken, one thing I think should be made clear.. I have the utmost respect
for you, and Alan, and all the others who are trying to improve the state
of the Atari line of computers.  You've all been doing a fine job at your
end of things.  Unfortunately the R&D department doesn't run Atari Corp.
 
I have absolutely no respect whatsoever for Neil Harris and (my opinion)
the Atari world is far better off that he's out of it.
 
It's true that there was never an official product announcement concerning
the blitter upgrade.  But..  Neil Harris and others from Atari went FAR
beyond  "mentioning that it was being worked on".  There were technical
details of the upgrades given, timeframes for delivery of the upgrade and
even prices.  I believe it was the "daughterboard" version of the upgrade
including the blitter and the 6 ROM set of TOS 1.2 that had a price of
$120 given.  Later, when it was decided to do motherboard swaps instead of
a hardware add-on, another price (which I can't recall exactly now) was
given, for the motherboard swap through Atari dealers.  Again, this is
going far beyond "mentioning that it was being worked on".
 
The whole episode was poorly handled, which is my entire point.  By feeding
the customers' desires for an upgrade to existing equipment, Atari created
an expectation which they ended up not delivering on.
 
Another point:  If Atari was behaving in a credible and responsible manner,
there would be no reason for all the dissatisfaction that is rampant.
There would be no reason for the volume of complaints and  "venom"..
Yes, I may be one of the most vocal critics, but you'll have to admit
that I'm not by any means the only one.
 
As I've said before, give us something to be proud of (not you personally,
but Atari Corp) and I'll be first to praise Atari for its accomplishments,
as strongly as I criticize it for its shortcomings.
 
BobR