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From: rjc@geech.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Amiga vs. Mac -- convince me...
Message-ID: <1991Mar13.004522.6621@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
Date: 13 Mar 91 00:45:22 GMT
References: <1991Mar11.161412.14449@math.lsa.umich.edu> <731.27dc06ae@vger.nsu.edu> <1991Mar12.220732.12078@ecst.csuchico.edu>
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In article <1991Mar12.220732.12078@ecst.csuchico.edu> ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes:
>In article <731.27dc06ae@vger.nsu.edu> manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) writes:
>>> 
>>> 1.  Will Commodore survive in the US?
>>
>>I certainly believe that the worst is over for Commodore.  They survived 
>>a very rough time in microcomputer history.  I think the microcmputer 
>>world is finally noticing that not all good ideas (or affordable ones)
>>come from Apple and IBM.  Commodore stock recently has been very exciting,
>>especially if you purchased it at $5 a share.  
>> 
>
>I must disagree with your point that the microcomputer world is finally 
>noticing that not all good ideas (or affordable ones) come from Apple and 
>IBM.  Certainly, as more and more people come in contact with others who
>have non-Apple and non-IBM systems, it may seem that way.  While hanging 
>around comp.sys.amiga.*, it may seem that way, but there are still others
>who only come in contact with other IBM and Mac users, who 'never see the
>light.'  Look how far back-ordered Apple is with the Mac Classic.  I think
>that this example demonstrates perhaps that it's unfortunately just the
>opposite -- that people still see Apple and IBM as the 'saviors.' 

  I'm sure NewTek is probably equally backordered for the Toaster. The
reason for this is advertising. IBM has the business market locked up.
They always will. The wildcard is the consumer market. Until recently,
Commodore had the most sucessful consumer home machine...The COmmodore 64.
Since October, Commodore has grown 200% with stocks zooming from 4 1/2 to
a high of 18 7/8. NewTek is living proof that advertising works. 
NewTek has been present at every major user group show, comdex, ces, 
Neb, Mac Expo, IBM expo, etc. They have advertised in major magazines
and received recognition in others.

 For now, I am pleased with the market penetration and recognition Commodore
is getting.

>>I am not a fortune teller, but I bet with my pocketbook that Commodore
>>will be around for a long long time in the United States.
>
>I agree here.  I don't think that Commodore (nor Atari :^) are going
>anywhere.  They'll be around for some time.

Where do you expect them to go? Even the mighty Apple can't penetrate
IBM's business market. COmmodore is not going to take any business away
from IBM, but I predict it will grab a finite amount of Apple's market.
Of course, neither Apple nor IBM can penetrate Commodore's European
strong hold on the game market. 8 million C64's and 2 million Amiga's.

Again, sucess depends on how you measure it. No US company is going to
take IBM's business market. There are billions of dollars tied up in
IBM's, business's aren't going to chuck all that invested money to upgrade
to a new architecure when PC's can be kludged to fit anyone's needs provided
you throw enough money at them.

SO what other markets are there? There's the personal consumer market,
the game market, the science/education market, and the workstation market.

Commodore has a good chance of penetrating all of those, especially #2.

>-- 
>         Ed Krimen  ...............................................
>   |||   Video Production Major, California State University, Chico
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