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From: brianr@tekig1.PEN.TEK.COM (Brian E Rhodefer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Buying more market share for the Amiga
Summary: Subsidize Amiga 1-2-3
Keywords: Lotus
Message-ID: <2279@tekig7.MAP.TEK.COM>
Date: 25 Jun 91 01:44:41 GMT
References: <1991Jun23.230738.28319@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <17308@chopin.udel.edu> <4193@ux.acs.umn.edu> <1991Jun24.030715.511@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
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Reply-To: brianr@tekig1.PEN.TEK.COM (Brian E Rhodefer)
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In article <1991Jun24.030715.511@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) writes:

 (in part),

>
>	My point is that, for Commodore to turn around the U.S.
>market, they would have to put SO MUCH MONEY into the advertising
>that they wouldn't be able to afford it. Think about it: we know
>about the Amiga. How much advertising would it take to make a
>large segment of America even CONSIDER the Amiga? It has
>specialized niches, but it would take more advertising than
>Commodore could handle to make things turn around.
>

From time to time, friends, distant relations, and other acquaintances
ask me to recommend a make of "PC-compatible" computer.  I tell them
that I own an Amiga, loathe IBM and all its evil works, and am therefore
not familiar with the specifics of the clone market.  This heresy so
shocks about half of these people that they clap hands over their ears
and scurry away.  The others usually smile weakly and ask just what what
sort of computer an Amiga might be, hoping to distract me from overtly
violent acts until the authorities can arrive.

The first question these people put is always of the form, "Can the Amiga
run XXX?",  where "XXX" is overwhelmingly "Lotus 1-2-3".

And, for the past two years, I've told these people that no, the Amiga
doesn't run Lotus 1-2-3, because neither Lotus nor Commodore believe
that the Amiga is a credibile enough business computer to justify the
expense of porting Lotus 1-2-3 to it.

For Lotus to have this opinion is perfectly understandable, but
Commodore's lack of faith is much less so.

>	I take as my evidence the "Stevie" campaign. That cost
>Commodore $14 million dollars. What did it do? It helped, but it
>wasn't nearly enough. It lasted 2.5-3 months and had a reasonable
>amount of coverage, without being overwhelming. It would seem
>that $50 million would barely be enough for a year-round BIG
>campaign. Commodore would go bankrupt doing that.


I don't know if the figure is accurate, but the last time rumors were
flying around as to whether Lotus would produce an Amiga port all by
itself, the reason given for their decision not to was that it would
require an investment of several hundreds of thousands of dollars,
which they couldn't justify.

One thing about several hundreds of thousands is that they're much, much
less than 14 millions.  If Commodore would subsidize the porting of Lotus
(complete with Arexx port) to the Amiga, they would sell X number of
computers as a direct result.  And, in my opinion, X would be much larger
than the sales generated from the "Stevie" campaign.

My "market research", as woefully informal and unprofessional as it
may be, suggests that the lack of a credible spreadsheet program for
the Amiga is the single biggest obstacle to its acceptance by business
people.


Anyway, how 'bout this for a plan?

1) Find 997 more Amiga fanatics, each willing to invest $300 in a
   "Port 1-2-3 to the Amiga" corporation.  Counting the contributions
   of myself and two of my friends, the corporation is capitalized at $300K.

2) The corporation plunks a quarter-mil down on Lotus' countertop,
   and asks for an Amiga port of 1-2-3.
   
3) The port will thereafter be Lotus' property to sell, except:

   3a) Each of the original investors get a copy of the resulting product,
       with all upgrades in perpetuity.  (Mailing the first copies out
       is where some of that other $50K went)

   3b) The original investors get a small royalty on each copy Lotus
       sells (2 cents each, maybe?)


Brian Rhodefer