Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnewsl!coco
From: coco@cbnewsl.att.com (felix.a.lugo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT in Japan
Message-ID: <1991Jan29.050143.1549@cbnewsl.att.com>
Date: 29 Jan 91 05:01:43 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 93


	I got this timely response from a NeXT employee ....

__________ CUT HERE ___________
Subject: Re: Japanese G-Mark award

Felix,

Hello.  I saw your inquiry about the G-Mark award announcement.
Please feel free to post this.  I am reading the netnews listings but cannot post...

thanks,
conrad
P.S.  I coordinate the 74 NeXT User Groups.  If you are intertested in starting a 

NeXT user group, please let me know.

*******************************************************

NeXT COMPUTER WINS 1990 G-MARK DESIGN AWARD
First U.S. Company to Receive the Prestigious Japanese Award


	REDWOOD CITY, Calif., October , 1990 NeXT Computer, Inc. today  
announced that it has received the 1990 G-Mark Grand Prize Award, given by
the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in Japan for products
available in  that country.  The G-Mark "Good Design" mark, established in
1957, is given to products based on their outstanding appearance,
functionality, quality and safety.

	In 1989, the Grand Prize was awarded to the Sony 8mm Handicam camera,
which was followed closely by the Nissan 300SX automobile for the overall
award  that year.  In 1990, the NeXT Computer bested competitors from every
major  Japanese company as well as from other non-Japanese companies with
products  available in Japan.

	"Congratulations to NeXT Computer on being the first American company
to win this prestigious award," said Robert Mosbacher, U.S. Secretary of
Commerce.  "At a time when U.S. product quality is undergoing severe
criticism, NeXT has set an  outstanding example for the entire world and
has raised the bar for other U.S. manufacturers."

	Steven P. Jobs, president and CEO of NeXT, traveled to Tokyo to accept
the  award from the minister of MITI.  "I am really proud of everyone at NeXT
for their  hard work, creativity and attention to quality that has enabled us
to compete with  Sony, Honda and other companies we admire and be the first
American company to  win this award," Jobs said.

	In 1989, 744 companies submitted 3,787 products to MITI for G-Mark
consideration.  Of these entries, 1,146 products received the mark.  Like
the "Good  Housekeeping Seal of Approval" in the U.S., G-Mark recipients are
entitled to use the  mark in advertising and packaging to alert Japanese
consumers to the fact that MITI  has deemed their product design worthy of
the designation. 

	Products compete in 13 categories that include Audiovisual;
Transportation;  Information Technology; Furniture and Interior; and Clinic,
Health and Welfare.   Foreign companies can apply to the G-Mark System
through their Japanese branch or  representative sole agent.  NeXT applied
through Canon, Inc., which distributes  NeXT's computer products in Asia
and with which it has close business ties.

	NeXT's G-Mark Grand Prize Award was for its original NeXT Computer,
which began shipping at the general retail level in September 1989.  In
September  1990, NeXT introduced a family of four new computer products,
based on the more  powerful Motorola 68040 microprocessor.  These products
include NeXTstation, a  more powerful and compact NeXT computer that costs
less than $5,000; NeXTstation  Color, a 16-bit, PostScript color version of
NeXTstation; NeXTcube, an expandable  NeXT computer with extremely flexible
configuration options that can be used as a  network server or high-end
desktop computer; and NeXTdimension, a high-end, 32-bit PostScript color
solution.

	NeXT Computer, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets "Interpersonal  
Computing" systems that promise to enhance the way groups work together in the  
1990s.  NeXT sells its products directly and through selected retail and VAR  
channels in North America, Asia and Europe.  Its headquarters are located at
900  Chesapeake Drive, Redwood City, California, 94063.


/*
** ============================================================================
**
**  Felix A. Lugo					AT&T Bell Laboratories
**
**	E-Mail:
**	(708) 713-4374	coco@ihlpb.att.com	att!ihlpb!coco
**
**	NeXT-Mail:
**	(708) 515-0668	coco@alien.att.com	alien.att.com!bootsie!coco
**
** ============================================================================
*/