Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!uunet!cimshop!davidm From: cimshop!davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Wake Up Commodore! Message-ID: Date: 21 Mar 91 23:13:11 GMT Article-I.D.: uunet.CIMSHOP!DAVIDM.91Mar21151311 References: <19996@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1991Mar20.223535.248@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Sender: davidm@cimshop.UUCP Distribution: comp Organization: Consilium Inc., Mountain View, California Lines: 55 In-reply-to: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu's message of 20 Mar 91 22:35:35 GMT >>>>> On 20 Mar 91 22:35:35 GMT, es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) >>>>> said: Ethan> In article <19996@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com Ethan> (Dave Haynie) writes: Dave> In article Dave> lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) writes: Lyle> Kill the A500 already! Sorry folks, but Commodore needs to replace the Lyle> A500 with a better low-end machine, like an A1500. The A1500 could Lyle> look like a longer version of the A3000. Commodore needs to have a Lyle> low-end machine that is professional as well. A detachable keyboard Lyle> and expansion slots are important. An optional INTERAL hard drive is a Lyle> must. Dave> Well, with all those changes, you're practically an A2000 already, and Dave> certainly no longer a low end machine. The A500 is a low end machine Dave> simply because its configuration is the cheapest way to make an Amiga. Dave> Larger cases, larger power supplies, detachable keyboards, internal hard Dave> drives, and all that jazz cost money. You don't replace a $500 machine Dave> with a $1000 or $1500 machine. Ethan> He does have a point, though. There is no intermediate model, something Ethan> between an A500 and an A2000HD (I don't consider the A2000 a real Ethan> choice for almost anyone, if you want more than the 500 the 2000HD is Ethan> an important jump, IMNSHO). The only thing I see wrong with the A500 is the placement of the expansion port. If something could be done so that most expansions for the A500 don't occupy so much desktop space, I think home users would be very happy. And, ultimately, home users are the people that the A500 (or whatever the low-end Amiga is) has to attract. That means very low price (probably <$300 to begin with) and reasonable and easy expansion when they have the money (expansion devices available in <$300 increments). Bodega Bay has the right idea (BTW, how much does that go for?), but is probably more than the average user wants in one step for their first upgrade to the A500 (but, then again...). If the A590 (the hard drive for the A500, right?) were designed to sit unobtrusively on top of the A500, home users would probably feel better about it because they wouldn't have to (worry about how they will have to) invest in a new desk just to house the computer. The key is that home users will start with the cheapest available model and expect support of that model such that they won't feel orphaned by a company that wasn't attempting to dump something on the market. This means a tight, but simple, low-end "first" model with attractively priced, incremental add-ons. -- ==================================================================== David Masterson Consilium, Inc. (415) 691-6311 640 Clyde Ct. uunet!cimshop!davidm Mtn. View, CA 94043 ==================================================================== "If someone thinks they know what I said, then I didn't say it!"