Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!m.cs.uiuc.edu!vela!lmbailey From: lmbailey@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Laurana Bailey) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Commodore Business Machines Message-ID: <7516@vela.acs.oakland.edu> Date: 25 Jun 91 22:23:20 GMT References: <7471@vela.acs.oakland.edu> <1109.2865f0a9@vger.nsu.edu> Organization: Lemming-Aid 1992 - Benefit Concert To Save The Lemmings Lines: 156 In article <1109.2865f0a9@vger.nsu.edu> manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) writes: | In article <7471@vela.acs.oakland.edu>, lmbailey@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Laurana Bailey) writes: | > [Intro about CBM screwing up...deleted] | > | > My boyfriend runs a Paragon BBS off and on when he's got the extra $$$ | > to do so. He writes a door program called Castle Dungeon for it that | > is popular on a lot of Paragon/StarNet, TransAmiga, and XenoLink BBS | > systems. This puts him in contact with a lot of other BBS sysops. One | > of the ones he's become good friends with runs ClickMeTwice BBS, a 6 | > line system dedicated to serving the Amiga, which also happens to be a | > computer dealer for the Amiga. Al, the owner of the store and BBS | > system, is going bankrupt selling Amigas. He has recently been posting | > some of the reasons why in the Amiga FidoNet Echomail areas. Some of | > you may have already seen them. He is not alone. We have heard from | > other dealers around the country who have had multiple problems with | > Commodore resulting in their not being able to maintain a profit and | > thus closing their doors. | | Well I can't comment on messages that I have not seen, but I can | respond from a dealer perspective since I work at one as a software | developer. I can post the messages on here if it would help. [....bunch of stuff deleted....] | > | > Al called Commodore and voiced his complaints and was only told "Come | > up with $10,000 and we'll co-op one with you for your area." What? If | > Al had $10,000 he wouldn't NEED the advertising that was PROMISED, | > he'd be making a profit on a machine that would have to be selling. He | > isn't though and as such he will be closing down. He's fully expecting | > Commodore to pull his dealership status for having the gall to speak | > out about his problems, and with the way Commodore has been the last | > few years, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they did. | | I'll wager there may be _other_ reasons other than a phone call. | Perhaps you can name the dealer? | I do not know the name of the store, but I will get the info and post it soon. | > | > I once had big hopes for Commodore and the Amiga, but both seemed | > doomed to stay a second class company with a second class machine. | > When the rumors of the Hewlett Packard buy-out were floating around I | > PRAYED it would happen! Whatever HP did with the Amiga, it would STILL | > have been more than what CBM was doing. Same thing with the recent | > Sony rumors. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE will someone with some | > advertising BRAINS and interest in advanced R&D PLEASE BUY OUT | > COMMODORE and get this thing MOVING in SOME sort of direction!?!? | | Funny I don't remember being flooded on tv or on the radio with | HP and Sony advertisements. What makes you think they know about | marketing? I think the "What If..." advertisements were just as | bas as "Stevie" was. I have seen a heck of a lot more Sony ads than I have CBM ads. I saw a Sony ad for their car CD players just today. I haven't seen a CBM ad since last November. (And I saw very few last november.) The big difference is that people know who Sony and HP are and they haven't ever heard of Amiga let alone Commodore. (Oddly enough the folks at the Oakland Press HAVE heard of Commodore, but mostly because we have a few Commodore Canada Filing cabinets. Complete with the little red and blue logos.) | | > | > Enough of my ramblings. I've given up hope on CBM and the Amiga. I | > will continue to use my machine happily until Commodore inevitably | > dies off and then I will probably buy a Macintosh. Sure it's more | > expensive, but there won't be a CBM around to offer anything better so | > why sweat it. It's been fun Commodore, wish you would have done a | > better job. | | Now that is the paragraph that gets my goat. The concept of the | company and the machine being second rate because you think you can | do a better job. It is not as simple as writing a check for advertising. | It is not as simple as giving the Amiga 24 bit graphics as standard. | If both of these things were done today it would make ZERO difference | to anybody outside of the Amiga community. I didn't say that I thought I could do a better job. Perhaps I can't, but I know that there are other companies out there who probably could. When you compare how many IBM and Apple sales there are with what is comparatively an inferior machine as to how many Amiga sales there are with a better machine it should be obivious that somebody somewhere at CBM isn't doing the right things. I never offered any suggestions to what CBM SHOULD do. I don't claim to have any secret knowledge in that area. That's Marc's domain, not mine.. I merely said that CBM isn't doing anything to promote greater sales. Be it adding new features or even getting the beleaugered 2.0 ROMs out. Nothing that would enhance the Amiga's posture in the general market is being done and what little that is is small and isolated to specific regions of the country. | | Commodore could help their dealers by doing more advertising, there | is little question there. However, they could help their dealers more | by providing better price protection and lower dealer prices on all of | the cpu's. It would even be a great help if Commodore would reduce | the number of reports required so that dealers can get to the business | of selling computers! Now YOU are the one offering suggestions. I agree. Those would all HELP and would MAKE SENSE, so why isn't CBM doing this? | | It would not hurt Commodore's reputation any to pay to have some of | the major software packages ported to the Amiga. It would do the | Amiga community a great service if the problems between Commodore | and Borland were solved. I would love QuatroPro for the Amiga! Again, makes sense to me. So why aren't they doing this? | | It will be a combination of these things and a continuing with | a single course in system development. I have enjoyed the fact | that since Dionne took over there has not been a 180 degree | course change. UNIX is still there, the A3000 is still there, | and the Power Up program is here! I was fearful of that myself. | | Give Commodore a break! You should have seen them in 1985! ;-) I saw them in 1985. I am impressed with the headway they have made, I am not impressed that it took them 6 years with a better product to do it. | | Want to know a company that really can't do anyting but screw up | their machine and the dealerships? Atari Corp. True, but I don't own an Atari. Their condition does not concern me. It's interesting to watch, but it hasn't any affect on me and is therefor irrevelant. | | +------------------------------------------------------+ ///// | | Mark D. Manes | ///// | | email: manes@vger.nsu.edu | ///// | | phone: (804) 683-2532 | \\\\\///// | +------------------------------------------------------+ \\\\// Amiga! | "Atari is what Commodore was." And what Commodore will be again if things don't change. Laurana -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ |Just another lemming... | Yet another Amiga maniac set loose | | | on the world...and you thought things| |lmbailey@vela.acs.oakland.edu | couldn't get any worse. |