Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!udel!rochester!PT.CS.CMU.EDU!andrew.cmu.edu!mw22+ From: mw22+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Alan Wertheim) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: The Zip Chip scam Message-ID: Date: 14 Jan 88 16:22:59 GMT Organization: Carnegie Mellon University Lines: 34 In-Reply-To: <8Vuufsy00XoBEy809A@andrew.cmu.edu> I sent good old Zip Technologies a check for $140 back in August and am fairly confident that I will never get it back. Sure I'm mad, but I still have to give Zip Technologies credit for coming up with the perfect scam. 1) They found the major weakness in the Apple: it's too damn slow. 2) They came up with a "product" that would work in any Apple II, II+, IIe, or //c, or in any of the Laser 128 or Franklin clones. That's a BIG market. It will work an any eight-bit machine and won't interfere with peripherals -- the major problem with Transwarp. 3) They managed to demo a speeded up version of a //c at the Applefest. My theory is that they somehow installed a Transwarp or Speedemon card in the //c. 4) They have been and still are running a major ad campaign in Nibble magazine. People are likely to buy a product if they see an ad a few months in a row rather than if they see it once and never hear of the product again. 5) I ordered my Zip Chip in August. In October, they sent me a full-color flyer with an ad for the Zip Chip on one side and a letter saying that they were simply "flooded with orders" and that there would be a six to eight-week wait. This way I wouldn't lose faith in the company, and I might recommend others to buy a Zip Chip before the backlog gets too great. Oh well. There's a sucker born every minute. Michael Wertheim Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Arpa: mw22@andrew.cmu.edu Bitnet: mw22@cmuccvma