Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!seitz From: seitz@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Matthew Eric Seitz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Wait a Sec... (was Re: Atari fair at Duesseldorf (West Germany)) Message-ID: <5636@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 14 Sep 88 05:27:08 GMT References: <8809061721.AA27884@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <379@bdt.UUCP> <5618@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU Reply-To: seitz@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Matthew Eric Seitz) Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 94 In article <5618@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> soohoo@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Ken Soohoo) writes: >> > Sorry that sales have been bad David, but what's the point? > Atari has never really pushed the ST line, and they don't > advertise, so what's changed (are your products dropping in > sales for some other reason?) As more and more time goes by without the push, more people begin to doubt the future of the ST. This means new products aren't developed which makes more people doubt the future of the ST, etc. It's that little has changed which is the problem. > > YES the lack of exciting PR news from Atari causes the market > to become depressed, but that's MUCH better than Atari just > talking and not releasing. This is damning with faint praise. Not only does Atari need to stop making announcements too far in advance, they also need to release new products, especially those they have been talking about for so long. >In fact, hasn't Roy Good been > hinting about something new (Razzle Dazzle) on the > horizon? Something that you'd like to "Stay Tuned" for? > Unfortunately Neil Harris was also hinting about something new on the horizon. I would love to see all the good things Roy's talking about, I hope I will see them, most of the time I think I will see them. But until I can walk into a store and buy them, they're just talk. > The "consumer who paid hard-earned money" for his Atari system > is NOT a loser, he (or she) gets an excellent piece of hardware that > has a huge base of software (PD & commercial), and DOESN'T depend on > Atari for day-to-day support anyway -- just because Atari doesn't > advertise, and isn't pushing the ST line DOESN'T mean that the ST > suddenly becomes a changed machine. Unfortunately it does become a changed machine. It changes from a promising new machine with lots of potential for growth to one which is withering on the vine. Most people want a computer that will be able to take advantage of tomorrow's new developments. A computer which will did task A a year ago, does task B today, and will do task C tommorrow is a different machine than one that does task A today and might do task B tomorrow. A company's support is important to user's and developer's ( and developer support is important to users). A company's support gives user's the confidence to buy the machine. This, along with company support, encourages developer support of the machine. Develper support give's the user even more confidence to buy the machine, which encourages more developer support. Either way, a good cycle or a bad cycle begins with the manufacturer. > > Personally, I think the user who pays too much and uses his > machine for too little is a big loser, and I certainly can't > say that for ANY Atari owners I know. > Amen to this. >>I guess in all this rambling one thing I'm trying to say is that all >>of us invested in Atari. Now what are they going to do for us? A >>long slow death is the worst for everyone, including the stock-holders. >> > "What are they going to do for us?" That's a terrible attitude! > Don't you think that YOU make a contribution to the welfare > of Atari also, and that by posting disparaging remarks just > ADDS to the DECLINE in your sales??? > What's so terrible about this? Isn't it usual to expect a company to help the customer, whether he be a user or a developer. I'm sure David is aware that negative comments may affect sales. However, in the long run, being honest about a company's problems as well as it's strengths makes your opinion worth hearing. Ignoring the problems won't make them go away. Support has to work both ways. >>-- > Fine, but why gripe when you can be holding constructive, > educational conversations (ex: learning about animation > techniques, and working with the system in new, neat ways). > > Many ideas for new products, and implementations of many > good concepts have been given life through the net, don't > abuse it by bitching. There's room on the net for both, and David has provided both help and criticism. Pointing out problems in the hope of prompting a solution is not "bitching." > >--Kenneth Soohoo (soohoo@cory.Berkeley.Edu) > Atari 400/800/600xl/800xl/1200/130xe/65xe, 1040ST hacker > Sometime Berkeley Student, othertimes... > My opinions are my OWN, not necessarily Atari's Matthew Seitz seitz@cory.berkeley.edu