Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!diamond From: diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Amiga Education Ad: A Review. Message-ID: <14276@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 7 Sep 90 13:16:05 GMT References: <29633@nigel.ee.udel.edu> <14243@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1990Sep7.020416.2170@uncecs.edu> <1990Sep7.050915.4561@uncecs.edu> Reply-To: diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 151 In article <1990Sep7.050915.4561@uncecs.edu> ruslan@uncecs.edu (Robin C. LaPasha) writes: >In article <1990Sep7.020416.2170@uncecs.edu>, urjlew@uncecs.edu (Rostyk Lewyckyj) writes: >> >> 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). He was also totally wrong about the basis on which we were rejected. The truth is we were rejected because when we submitted our final bid, we gave the state LOWER prices than we had in the origional submission. We also have an appeal scheduled for next week. > >Well, Rostyk has left out the fact that - guess what? - Universities >didn't have state purchase contract for Amigas last year either >(where K-12 != postsecondary.) So it's not "harder" now. Besides, >our peculiar state contract system means that if somebody HAS a >state contract on a computer, departments can NOT go to a better- >cheaper-more budget stretching deal elsewhere, but must buy from >the dudes with the contract. > Even if we lose our appeal, we are being allowed to establish an alternative buying procedure. >> 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. > John Harrison, who was on my staff as manager of Higher Education markets still works with us on special projects, tho as Robin noted he did return to his hometown where his family still lived to accept a great job offer at GLAXO. We miss him, and I think he misses us, but we still have a pretty strong group. I am not sure he would be thrilled at your insinuations as to why he left. Also your price info on the UNIX presentation was wrong, and we said at that time that the system would not be on the market for quite some time. It was tough to release our version of AT&T UNIX 5r4, before AT&T completed the release. >Uh, Dr. Harrison got a good job offer back here. What does that >have to do with anything, UNIX included? > >> 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. Hard for me to comment on something that happened years before we joined the company. >That little "deal" with Charlotte was undercutting a GOOD local >dealer (with trustworthy repair service!) in a big way. It let >the UNC bookstore - whose employees could not demo the machine, >much less repair it - have a demo machine, but they never quite >seemed to be able to get it in stock... but I digress. > >> 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. > >That's wholly untrue. MSC has not only been completely helpful, >and WITH some Amiga-capable personnel as you well know, but they >DO have the Educational Discount forms and other information, >delivered by yours truly. The Comp Center "newsbrief" has >advertised this fact - or don't you read your own department's >publications, Rostyk? > >[blathering about campus support and dealer shelf space deleted] > >> 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. See above > >Well, Rostyk, how would you know whether there has yet BEEN a C= >effort this year, much less say that it's floundered? > >> -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- >> >> 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. > >Rostyk, where did you get that idea about C= not having the bucks >for a vendor booth? Tain't so. They did have some trouble getting >a local dealer interested. > >> ----------------------------------------------- >> 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 >> > > Thanks Robin >Robin LaPasha >TAU Board of Directors member >UNC Graduate Student >-- >Robin LaPasha |Keeper of the Amiga >ruslan@ecsvax.uncecs.edu |Hypermedia Mailing List -- 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!