Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!pacbell!pacbell.com!ucsd!usc!wuarchive!rex!uflorida!mephisto!mcnc!ecsgate!ecsvax!urjlew From: urjlew@uncecs.edu (Rostyk Lewyckyj) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Amiga Education Ad: A Review. Summary: Well let me tell you about NC :-| Message-ID: <1990Sep7.020416.2170@uncecs.edu> Date: 7 Sep 90 02:04:16 GMT References: <29633@nigel.ee.udel.edu> <14243@cbmvax.commodore.com> Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service Lines: 106 In article <14243@cbmvax.commodore.com>, diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) writes: > In article <29633@nigel.ee.udel.edu> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: > > > > I have one really BIG peeve with this ad. It says: "Stop by your > >Campus Authorized Amiga Dealer and get your hands on the future of > >computing." What campus Amiga dealer? The nearest dealer is 35 miles > >off-campus!!! > > > > Like I said, this is a fair start, but until Commodore establishes a > >good Amiga dealer on-campus or nearby, any future ads will be wasted money. > > Gee, maybe that means Commodore is talking to your school about incorporating > the Commodore Education program as a part of their on-campus resale program. > Or does the fact that you don't know about it mean it isn't happening??? > > Sorry for the tone, but the truth is that there have been a series of > major presentations on your campus in the last few months by the new Education > Sales group, showing key faculty and administrators Amiga technology and its > capabilities. The response has been quite positive, and we are agressively > pursuing a series of joint programs. > > I have no interest in wasting scarce resources either. > -- > > > Howard S. Diamond Director of Education, Commodore Business Machines > 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, Pa, 19380 > diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com 215-431-9142 > MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND!! AMIGA! Well let me tell you about North Carolina :-| And let's start from the most recent events that I know of proceding back to ancient prehistory. Each year companies and dealers bid for the states' business, to be the supplier to the state for various kinds of items. In previous years different C= dealers have managed to get on the state contract list, thus making C= computers available for schools to purchase. This year C= decided that they would do it themselves. Well they flubbed ! As a result C= is not on state contract this year. Universities and schools will therefore have a harder time purchasing C= equipment. They will have to justify such purchases to the state purchasing office, and in this very tight budget year ... Also the dealer who has been a successful bidder before is left out in the cold, (but not because another dealer outbid him). A little over a year ago C= hired Dr. John Harrison from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as its NEW DIRECTOR of EDUCATIONAL (Marketing?). Well at EDUCOM last fall he was picking up guests from their hotels IN A WHITE LIMO no less to take them to the C= hospitality suite where behind closed doors they were being shown the C= AMIGA "UNIX" system (at that time rumoured to be about $7000 talking price). Well Dr. Harrison is back in the area working for GLAXO, and the "UNIX" system is not out yet. Back in 85 when the A1000 was introduced and IBM and Apple were not as deeply entrenched on our campus as they are now, our Campus Bookstore tried to cut a deal with C=. But the State of North Carolina requires that all state contracts be governed by the rules of The State of North Carolina while C= was adamant that a contract with them had to be governed by the rules of The State of Pennsylvania. As a result there was no contract. For a while our bookstore subbed under a contract that had been signed somehow with the bookstore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC. But that fell apart quite quickly due to poor product support and I believe problems with the contract with Charlotte. I have asked again at our bookstore and our Micro Computer Support Center about making the information about the Educational Program available. The bookstore (since they would get nothing out of it) won't do it. MSC hasn't done it, and probably won't. After all that's another whole computer system they might have to provide support for. They don't have the personnel budget for the extra staff. If they provide the information, then by implication they recommend it as an alternative, then by implication they are responsible for support. And as we here on csa all well know the Amiga has many facets that would require much support e.g. : disk problems, hardware expansion problems, printer interfacing (postscript, etc.), availability of software for mundane things like word processing, statistical analysis, bussiness graphics, spread sheets, languages other than C (BASIC? :-) The local Waldensoft which has more AMIGA software that the C= dealer where I got my A3000 only has about ten linear feet of AMIGA productivity software on display: about five paint programs, a couple of video titlers, a typing tutor and a spread sheet. They have another twenty to thirty feet of games. This compares to a couple of hundred feet of shelf space for IBM clones and APPle software. The scale is the same or worse for books. It is not just a case of more stock of the same few items for IBM or Apple or even C= 64/128. There is a larger number of titles, programs, to chose from. Anyways getting back to sales programs and state contracts. I wonder if this years C= effort again floundered on the issue of which states' rules will govern the contract. I also wonder what if anything C= will be doing about this situation. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- By the way Sept. 27 and 28 there will be a "CompuFest" at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Triangle Amiga Users group (TAU) will have a table set up to show of our chosen machine. C= will not be officially represented. They did not have the scarce resources $400. to get a vendor booth. C= has promised to help us out with some loaner equipment. So come one and come all if you are in the area. And if you are a developer or publisher and would like to have us show off your productivity products. Perhaps we could arrange it. ----------------------------------------------- Reply-To: Rostyslaw Jarema Lewyckyj urjlew@ecsvax.UUCP , urjlew@unc.bitnet or urjlew@uncvm1.acs.unc.edu (ARPA,SURA,NSF etc. internet) tel. (919)-962-6501