Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!diamond From: diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Commodore & Universities Message-ID: <13473@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 27 Jul 90 13:25:46 GMT References: <25432@snow-white.udel.EDU> <1990Jul26.214524.15664@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Reply-To: diamond@cbmvax (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 79 In article <1990Jul26.214524.15664@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> wlj1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Wayne L Jebian) writes: >In article <25432@snow-white.udel.EDU> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: > >>Until Commodore starts getting serious with marketing the Amiga at >>(and to) Universities, this situation will not change. And by 'getting >>serious' I do not mean putting ads in a couple of school newspapers >>and pushing the Amiga at a couple of Universities. I mean taking the >>Amiga and actively showing it at every major University in the country. >>The reason that Apple has the market penetration that they have is >>because they have done (and continue to do) precisely this, and >>Commodore must do the same. Commodore cannot expect to enter this >>market by osmosis, expecting the Amiga to magically become popular >>as a machine for scientific and research uses with no effort. It >>will take hard work (and lots of it) from Commodore for this to >>happen. >> >> About a year ago, Iowa State University made it known (through >>the proper channels) that they were interested in purchasing several >>hundred workstation systems, and were taking bids. Nearly every >>workstation and PC vendor responded (from Zenith to DEC), shipping >>sample machines to ISU for review purposes -- except Commodore. >>Apple responded by shipping a beta IIfx system four months before >>it was introduced. Other companies made similar efforts. Eventually, >>the contract was awarded to DEC. But I am continually amazed that >>Commodore made absolutely no effort whatsoever to bid on this $5M >>contract. They might not have gotten it, but they could have shipped >>some beta A3000 systems with AmigaOS 2.0 and Amiga UNIX, to show >>that they are a serious company. As it is, I have seen absolutely >>nothing from Commodore to convince me that they are at all serious >>in entering markets like these. > >I hate it when I enter Columbia's bookstore and see some kind of loan program >to purchase a ps/2 system, or a Mac system when I want an Amiga. its frustratin >that despite the lower prices of the amiga, I can't afford one. I7d love to see >commodore do what IBM and Apple are doing but in addition to the Ed. Disc. I >wish they could supply loans like the way IBM and Apple do. I remember showing >a friend of a friend a picture of the A3000 on BYTE magazine and I said "This >is what I want" and he said "But it can't run macintosh programs." have to deal with @ columbia? heh> > >then again, columbia U doesnt exactly encourage using computers much since they >charge students $35/semester for an account here and you get 1/2 meg. >engineering schools should not charge their students for use of the system.> > > >my $0.02 and shall we get back on the topic? > >-Mark Dolengo I guess I think that Commodore has gotten very serious about Education, and Universities in particular....but I am biased.... When IBM started their Education program, they were able to roll it out nationwide, but that is a function of being IBM. When Apple started their program (a company and program I know abit about) they couldn't afford to be everywhere....so they focused of a small number of campuses (initially, less than 25) and grew from there. We are having to do the same. Since I came to Commodore, the Education program has grown from from one person to 26, and is still growing... That is progress, but is also not enough to cover the country.... Our sales force and marketing group are targeting specific campuses, and you will see a major back to school push this fall, but it won't be everywhere. It will be at the number of schools where we believe we can have a major impact because of the resources that are available in the area, and the resources we can focus to do a quality job. Given the success of the program since it started in January of this year...we are confident we can continue to be very successful, and eventually do the kinds of things you have all been suggesting, all the places you'd like to see them. Let me know if you have any questions, Howard S. Diamond Director of Education CBM