Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!know!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!emory!gatech!mcnc!decwrl!csus.edu!ucdavis!iris!zerkle From: zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Developers Read this Part III Message-ID: <7832@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> Date: 16 Oct 90 19:21:03 GMT References: <1407@winnie.fit.edu> <9878@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> <1990Sep30.090335.6765@news.iastate.edu> Sender: usenet@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu Reply-To: mitroo@cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: Ohio State University Computer and Information Science Lines: 70 I am posting this for Varun Mitroo . Hopefully, I haven't screwed up the above lines too much. ****** Start of quoted text ****** In article <7779@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (me) writes: >In article <9878@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Bob Luneski) writes >>[The] >>problem lies in the fact that there are simply not enough Amiga owners using >>the Amiga for the scientific applications you mentioned to warrant development >>in thses niche markets. > >This sort of attitude entirely misses the point. When you sell in >niche markets, you sell complete solutions. Generally, what you do >(as a salesperson) is find some innocent group of scientists meekly >using obsolete equipment/software. You then sell these people the >computer, the scientific hardware, and the software, all in one >package. You then support them as much as you can, possibly charging >them for the service contract. I am hardly an expert in the marketing >field, but I believe that this is known as "value added retailing" (I >could be wrong....). > >In other words, when you are going to develop a package, the first >thing you do is figure out what your software/instruments are going to >do. Then, you find the best hardware to run it on. Your "niche >users" are going to use this hardware exclusively for the special >application (well, probably not really, but in theory). They aren't >planning on using their existing hardware (again, an >overgeneralization). It doesn't matter that "not enough" people use >brand-x computers. You sell them those computers as part of the >package. > >At least, that is how it is supposed to work. > > Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240 > Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers. You are absolutely right. There is a vast market for VARs - not just for scientists, but also for other professionals such as doctors. I recently installed a complete computer system for a doctor's office. The bottom line for the system was to handle medical billing and the patient ledgers - at the lowest cost possible. Weighing all these factors, I decided to purchase a fast (33Mhz '386) PC clone system and the required medical software. I would have loved to set up an Amiga system there, but everything pointed against it: cost, reliability, available software, laser printer drivers, LAN support, and ease of use (for beginners). The entire office staff including the doctor, the nurses, and the receptionist knew almost nothing about computers. Everything concerning the computer had to be taught. For these places (there are many thousands of them across the country) the only thing that matters is that the computer run the specific program that it is supposed to - quickly and without any worries. If Amiga programmers wrote applications for these type of places, a vast market would open. I am sick of seeing medical computer companies selling worthless computers (I*M PS/2 70 systems) at INCREDIBLE costs (> $15,000) to unknowing doctors - taking advantage of their ignorance and making money. All that is required is to make the Amiga more reliable (no GURU), support networking (being done), support laser printers (being done), and write some high quality data base programs for these type of offices. This would be a very good way of getting Amigas into the professional market. Varun Mitroo mitroo@cis.ohio-state.edu ****** End of quoted text ****** Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240 Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers.