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From: mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz)
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga,net.micro.atari,net.micro.mac
Subject: The real debate begins: Atari ST vs Commodore 128
Message-ID: <330@3comvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-Jan-86 13:44:38 EST
Article-I.D.: 3comvax.330
Posted: Tue Jan  7 13:44:38 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jan-86 06:20:07 EST
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Xref: linus net.micro.amiga:5321 net.micro.atari:2156 net.micro.mac:3993

Does Jack Tramiel think he can get away with undercutting his competition,
retailing his products at K-MART type outlets, and forcing the competition
to drop their prices (and eventually drop out of business) again?  The latest 
I have heard is that Tramiel has (for the second time now) got all of his
distributors upset by lowering the price of the ST to about $400, and
diverting his distribution to K-MART.  Apparently AT&T will also sell
the ST as a low end UNIX terminal.

I see a little bit of humor in this, as well as a bit of sadness.  If
software developers support GEM (and produce MAC quality stuff), then
the Mac could very well disappear.  After all, you can't beat the price
for such comparable machines.  The humor of it all is that Commodore Amiga
was in a real awkward price position in the market, and now they stand alone
as the mid-priced REAL Computer (I can't help but think of a $400 computer
as anything but a TOY - albeit a great toy).

If Mr. Tramiel is trying to drive Commodore to its knees by forcing it
to drop its Amiga price down near the ST's new price, he may be in for
a rude awakening.  What he has actually done is downgraded the 'a-priori'
notion of the ST that we all have, and turned it into a real tough
competitor for the COMMODORE 128.  If the Amiga prices don't fall, then
(MY OPINION) people might just give the machine the respect it deserves.
There is a saying that goes "you get what you pay for", and to most people,
the Amiga will still be worth the price.

At this point, I think we ought to stop the silly Amiga vs. ST debate
and get on with one that is more worthwhile: ST vs. 128...

We all know about the ST, but the 128 is actually going to give it a
run for its money (MY OPINION).  On the software front, the 128 runs
a few THOUSAND C64 programs, including the largest selection of graphics-
arcade-etc. games.  The 128 ALSO runs a few THOUSAND CP/M programs in
128 mode.  The 128 is also packaged quite nicely, and is actually a
real "sexy" machine.  To the mass market consumer, these things might
outweigh other minor details like higher resolution, more horsepower,
better (this is open to debate) peripherals, etc.

The Japanese tried to create a new standard a few years back called
MSX.  Although the MSX machines could never compete over here with the
C64, I always felt that their reasoning was pretty sound.  The buyer
really doesn't care if he has a 1MHz 6502 or a 1GHz 68090 (I like 
inventing future chips) just as long as it runs the software they need
to run - effectively.

I would also like to mention the possibility that Tramiel will end up
selling thousands of UNIX terminals before he DROPS the ST altogether
in favor of the TT, which is supposed to have a 32032 instead of a
68000 (I hope they still use GEM and 'C' so you ST owners will be able
to move on up with ATARI products.

----------- don't flame me, I'm doused with gasoline -----------

This may or may not be what you want to hear, but it may be true,
but is only my humble opinion (and therefore might not be).

/mykes

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At $400, the ST might make a nice printer buffer for my Amiga....