Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!mcvax!ukc!warwick!cvaxa!unx1!qsfa1
From: qsfa1@unx1.UUCP (Graham Thomas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ATARI buys Federated
Message-ID: <253@unx1.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Sep-87 10:45:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: unx1.253
Posted: Wed Sep  2 10:45:49 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Sep-87 02:27:49 EDT
References: <8708280010.AA14862@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: SPRU, Univ of Sussex, UK
Lines: 34

> What I love about ATARI spending 67Mega$ on a Californian electronics shop
> chain, is that they are spending the profits ATARI made in Europe
> .... where they wont even spend
> 1k$ on a developers newsletter and where developers still have the
> original version of Alycon C and just get a blank look from Atari people if
> they mention something called 'updates'.
> .... 
>       Not to mention all the other goofs: GDOS, Blitter ................
> 
>                          Simon Poole
>                          K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET

Simon Poole's right, as usual, to complain about European profits being
'repatriated' so that Atari can waste megabucks on buying Federated.  Will
Atari worry about such criticism, or about another message which highlights
the fact that Leonard Tramiel suddenly considers the IBM emulator
'unimportant'?  They show no sign of it.  They're probably not even
bothered by the fact that one of the most competent UK software houses,
Computer Concepts (who wrote Fast Basic), are dropping ST work.  Apparently
CC are just fed up with the way Atari refuse to part with basic technical
information - a complaint that's been echoed many times on this net.

Here at Sussex University we now have lots of STs.  When the time comes to
replace them, I wouldn't hold out much hope that Atari will pick up much
business.

But that probably doesn't worry Atari either.  Why should they spend money
developing their products when it's so much more fun to play shopkeepers?
-- 


Graham Thomas, SPRU, Mantell Building, U of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK
 JANET: qsfa1@uk.ac.sussex.unx1      EARN/BITNET: qsfa1%sussex.unx1@ac.uk
 UUCP:  ..mcvax!ukc!cvaxa!unx1!qsfa1 Phone: +44 273 686758