Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucla-cs!stephen
From: stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: STs and Colleges: A Proposal
Keywords: st, universities, colleges, minix,unix
Message-ID: <30973@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 18 Jan 90 02:59:00 GMT
References: <481784b3.14a1f@force.UUCP>
Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: stephen@cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney)
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 53

In article <481784b3.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes:
>
>	I have proposed this idea to John Townsend on GEnie
>and both he and an Atari employee named Elizabeth Shook have
>responded to it. But I thought that I would like to bounce it across
>the USENET hoping that someone might pick it up and run with it.
>
>Anyway, there is a lot of interest in UNIX and C at most colleges and
>univeristies today. Most schools which teach Computer Science (comp sci)
>also teach UNIX and C. And what is really needed is a Cheap, Hackable
>UNIX machine. I have asked John Townsend @ Atari why Atari doesn't
>bundle a Mega ST2 with a 65 meg drive, a monochrome monitor, and MINIX.
>This package could be sold to college students across the USA at under
>$2500. this would be the cheapest UNIX development system available. 
>

Richard has a good idea here, but there are a couple of other things students
look for in a computer system.  The most important is word processing.  I
figure that this system will probably be the only Atari product the schools
will carry so it's important to include word processing software.  The ST
can use a standard parallel printer so that's not really a concern, but ST
software can be tough to find, especially for students without cars.

The other thing people tell me when I recommend STs is that they can go to the
library and print out their Mac stuff.  Although this will probably not be
acceptable to atari, the best way to get around that might be to donate a
Mega 4 with a laser printer to each school you want to sell through.  When I
was at Stanford until last year, they said that they would have been happy
to have STs in the library if Atari donated them as Apple had.

Finally, Atari will have to print a nice glossy brochure which illustrates
why the Mega is the machine to buy.  It should highlight emulation so students
see tyhat even if the ST can't do everything they need, they can buy a Spectre
GCR or PC Ditto and get one of "those other machines" even though they did
choose an ST.

If the Tramiels ever saw how many Macintoshes people cart out of Stanford
and UCLA's computer stores _alone_, they'd jump on this one!  It just keeps
gathering momentum too!  If they have doubts, they can try it at a few schools
and watch the success.  The time to go for it is at the beginning of the
academic year, though, I suspect.

>-- 
> Richard E. Covert, Lead Engineer of Software Tools Group
> AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ   (602) - 581-4652
> TCP/IP: covertr@gtephx
> UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!covertr


Steve Whitney   "It's never _really_ the last minute"       (())_-_(())
UCLA Comp. Sci. Grad. Student                                | (* *) | 
Internet: stephen@cs.ucla.edu              UCLA Bruin-->    {  \_@_/  }
GEnie:    S.WHITNEY                                           `-----'