Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!ncar!boulder!tramp!walkerb
From: walkerb@tramp.Colorado.EDU (Brian Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Federated:  Dumped by Atari!   Shame on you, Atari!
Keywords: Federated, Atari
Message-ID: <7389@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Date: 14 Mar 89 05:29:18 GMT
References: <1308@sdcc15.ucsd.edu>
Sender: news@boulder.Colorado.EDU
Reply-To: walkerb@tramp.Colorado.EDU (Brian Walker)
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Lines: 40

In article <1308@sdcc15.ucsd.edu> pa1132@sdcc15.UUCP writes:
#According to a Federated employee in El Cajon, CA store, Atari has
#seperated  itself from Federated.  Now Federated is in its own
#completely, and is expected to be bankrupted soon.  Atari is said to
#make "megabucks" by doing this because it can deduct the Federated
#loss from tax.   Federated is left to die on its own.  We should
#condemn Atari for its irresponsibility!  And if Atari can do this to
#Federated employees, nobody knows what Atari can do to Atari
#employees in the future!

Frankly, that's life in the business community.  If Federated wasn't making
money, then why keep it around?  But in any case, aren't you being a little
melo-dramatic?  Ditching Federated, a losing division, is not the same as
getting rid of Atari employees.  One could even argue that the move was for
the benefit of Atari employees who's jobs could have been at risk by the
losses suffered from Federated.  Now, if Federated can now turn itself
around, then we'll know that Atari made a bad decision.  If not, then we'll
know what Federated had in store for Atari.  As further reference, note the
following:

In article <739@stag.UUCP>, thelake!steve@stag.UUCP (Steve Yelvington)
#Friday's edition of the Wall Street Journal carried a report that Atari
#Corp. lost $97 million in the fourth quarter of 1988, including more than
#$100 million in writeoffs and reserves charged to the Federated Group
#retail subsidiary. According to the article, Federated's fate will be
#announced soon; options include sale, spinoff and leveraged buyout.
#
#Without the Federated losses, Atari would have made an operating profit of
#$9.3 million for the quarter, down from $21.2 million, a drop attributed
#to high RAM chip prices. 
#
#An Atari spokesman was quoted as saying that "a number of new items
#designed to complement the existing ST and MS-DOS product lines will be
#announced this year" and that RAM prices were dropping. Atari stock closed
#up 75 cents, at $6.50

Brian Walker, University of Colorado at Boulder
walkerb@tramp.colorado.edu     ...!{ncar,nbires}!boulder!tramp!walkerb 
"As far as we were aware, we simply made up the language as we went along"
-John Backus on the developement of FORTRAN