Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!cbatt!gatech!mcnc!ecsvax!urjlew
From: urjlew@ecsvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Commodore Enhancer production et al.
Message-ID: <2691@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Feb-87 02:23:49 EST
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.2691
Posted: Wed Feb 18 02:23:49 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Feb-87 01:01:03 EST
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Lines: 68


 <<
> (Paul Higginbottom SALES)
> Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA

 defending the slow deliveries of Enhancer kits  writes:

>50 per dealer x 1000 dealers is 50,000 kits!  That's 200,000 disks (I
>think there's 4 in an Enhancer kit), not to mention a mountain of paper.
>
>So you see orders don't usually go out in one crack.  All production of
>everything else would have to halt to make that many kits!
>
>Please be patient.  We're cranking them out as fast as possible!

 Actually Mr. Higginbottom is being a little modest on Commodores'
 behalf in one way. Only 50,000 kits? I had read that at least 100,000
 A1000 machines had been sold by Dec. 86. That would be before V1.2 had
 been released. So let us assume that a full 100,000 kits are needed.
 However I only remember 3 disks in my kit: KS, WB, and extras. So that
 makes for 300,000 disks. (Paul will you please send me the fourth disk!-)

 Now just out of curiosity I did a little experiment and some calculation.
 Putting what I needed from the WB into ram:, I timed a diskcopy  
 on my machine by executing the command file
     ram:date > ram:start
     ram:diskcopy from df0: to df1:
     ram:date > ram:stop
     ram:join ram:start ram:stop as ram:log
     ram:type ram:log
 With preloaded disk drives but including my reation time to the prompt
 from diskcopy, the interval between the date calls was just under 100 s.

 31 days in dec. + 31 in jan. + 15 in feb. .=. 75 d. So say 60 working
 days since the release of V1.2.
 60 d x 20 h/d = 1200 h = 72,000 m = 4,320,000 s.
 4,320,000 s @ 100 s/disk  = 43,200 disks per disk drive.

 So the whole production run could have been completed by now using
 about 7 (seven) machines. Assuming each machine had two drives for
 output, and used an exec file to alternate between the output drives,
 to allow the operator to unload and reload the idle drive.
 In a disk duplicating machine, the data to be written to disk would
 be in central memory. So writing the disk would take less than the 100
 seconds it took on my AMIGA.  Also the disks would be loaded and un-
 loaded automatically from a magazine, so only one operator would be
 needed.
 As regards the printed pamphlet of documentation that comes with the
 Enhancer. A tirage of 100,000 of those is not very big for a medium
 sized print shop.
 As to volume ...
 Each Enhancer kit is 23 x 20 x 1.2 cm. in size. So the total volume
 of 100,000 kits will be about 55.2 cubic meters < 5 x 6 x 2 meters.
 
 So what's happening to Commodores'  Amiga division production capacity?.
 Or am I somehow misjudging the size of Commodore?

 Could the people from various areas around the country comment on
 whether stores in their area are receiving Amiga products from
 Commodore in a timely fashion? I understand that dealers have to
 pre-pay orders rather than pay for them on receipt. Is this so?

 Rostyk Lewyckyj,  urjlew@ecsvax   or  urjlew@tucc.bitnet

 disclaimer: You alone are responsible for believing any claims or
 statements presented above. I disavow their applicability for any
 purpose either stated, implied or assumed. These statements are mine,
 made without the knowledge or permission of temporal higher authority.