Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!portal!atari!good
From: good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Atari no-support?
Message-ID: <1024@atari.UUCP>
Date: 25 Mar 88 18:17:20 GMT
References: <148leigh@byuvax.bitnet> <2064@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <54@avsd.UUCP>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 35
Summary: I was there.

In article <54@avsd.UUCP>, govett@avsd.UUCP (David Govett) writes:
> 
> At the Hannover Fair last week, one of the Flying Tramiel Brothers said
> that, since iratA gets 60% of its (16-bit ?) revenues from Deutschland,
> the US market would suck hind tit, not to put too fine a point on it.
> 
> The grafitti is on the wall.  Time to dump the boat anchor while you
> can still get a decent price for it.  Don't count on Two-Tongue Jack
> to ever support the ST in the US.  All he'll ever provide is crumbs to 
> keep the peasants quiet. 

I was at Hannover last week, and would contest the above most strongly.
Jack Tramiel's public statement at the Press Conference was almost
entirely in regard to DRAM issues. And he made a very strong point,
which received immediate applause, that "Atari will not increase prices
on account of the inflated DRAM costs. If that means we only make $55M
this year instead of $57M, so be it." I paraphrase considerably, but
nonetheless his message was clear. In addition we are making several
moves within Atari Sunnyvale to improve support for developers, as anyone
who has been following my postings should be able to discern. The effects
of these moves will be seen in the next few months. And we are certainly
not talking about dropping the ST/Mega, or even letting it stagnate. There
is ongoing development effort in several areas.

My personal opinion is that Mr. Govett is way out-of-line in his 
interpretation of Mr. ?. Tramiel's remarks (where "?" can only be
Sam or Jack, as the other two were not in Hannover). Maybe he would be
so kind as to state the exact words used, and the originator, as I don't
recall any Atari executive using the words quoted.
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Roy J. Good
Product Development, Atari Corporation

Views expressed are my own. Atari may agree or disagree; they have the right.
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