Xref: utzoo comp.sys.atari.8bit:2578 comp.sys.atari.st:16104 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!portal!atari!good From: good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit,comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Atari News - Portfolio Message-ID: <1481@atari.UUCP> Date: 4 May 89 22:48:30 GMT References: <17909@cup.portal.com> Distribution: usa Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA Lines: 107 THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO BOB RETELLE'S RATHER ONE-SIDED POSTING RE PORTFOLIO: in article <17909@cup.portal.com>, Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com says: > > ... the "Atari" Portfolio is a toy computer which is only > being marketed by Atari... they had nothing to do with its development, > and as far as I know, nothing to do with its manufacture.. they're just > slapping an Atari label on it... 1) It is most certainly NOT a toy - not when some large companies show interest in buying large quantities for internal use. 2) Atari has been VERY closely involved in development - all packaging and production engineering has been done by Atari/Japan. Design eng'g and software features have also be with Atari's full participation. 3) Atari is solely responsible for its manufacture. > > The Portfolio has no standard interfaces or "ports" on it, so any devices > like speech synthesizers which needed an RS-232 interface, would be useless.. Portfolio has a very flexible "bus-style" connector, making it easy to develop customized dumb or intelligent cables for all manner of expansion possibilities, and not just slow RS232. Indeed, Atari is developing several such options. > > There are no "internal card slots" to use standard IBM PC style expansion > cards (actually, that's understandable, given the compact size), so that > avenue of expansion is closed.. One of the interface cables will allow direct connection to a PC Bus. > > There is no provision for attaching any standard printers or disk drives... See comments re cables interface above. > > There is virtually *NO* software available for it, despite the fact that it > will *RUN* any MS-DOS programs, because of the "RAM-Card" storage device.. > (try an experiment... call any IBM software store, and ask them how many IBM > programs they have... then ask them how many of those are available *now* on > "RAM-Cards"... if they're polite, they'll wait until after they hang up > before they laugh..) But how many, subject to copyright issues, could be downloaded via the intelligent cable into the battery-backed RAM card? And some packages have a license which allows you to have copies on more than one system provided you only use one of them at a time. Of course, some users might just like to develop their own programs and download them - no copyright problems at all! > > There *IS* built-in software provided with the Portfolio... anyone who plans > to use a "Lotus 1-2-3" spreadsheet clone with an 8-line by 40 character > display, raise their hands... I didn't think so... Sure beats a pencil (and eraser!!), calculator and pocket notebook! > > There is a "wordprocessor" built-in, but with no printer support, and no > disk drives to easily port your documents (again, typed on an 8-line by > 40 character display), it's nothing but an electronic "notepad"... See previous comments re connectability etc. > > Supposedly you'll be able to buy a "RAM-Card drive" to attach to a "real" > computer so that you can transfer data from the Portfolio to a more capable > machine for printing or whatever.. add the cost of that to the Portfolio's > original cost... .... which is a remarkably low entry-level price in the first place - about equal to the sales tax on a full blown system?. > > There *is* a 60 pin connector on the back of the Portfolio which could > theoretically be used to go to a serial/parallel port adapter, but none > are currently available, and unless Atari manages to sell an awful lot > of Portfolios, I don't expect to see much in the way of this kind of > peripherial... See above. > > In short, Atari has found a convenient "short term profit" vehicle, which > has the added advantage of attracting a lot of Press coverage because it > has the "magic word," MS-DOS attached to it... Not to mention attracting a lot of potential buyer coverage. > > I expect to see the Atari Portfolio a year from now, if indeed we see it > at all, in Perry Drug Stores, right next to the Timex/Sinclair 1000... > or given away free with every air-conditioner from Crazy Fred's appliance > store, like the Atari/Hartech calculators... You certainly will see it a year from now. You'll also see it a lot sooner, provided your eyes (and mind?) are open. > > To get back to Lisa's original question... by the time you'd add all the > things missing from the Portfolio, you'd have a monstrosity that would be > twice as big and expensive, and far more bulky, than a "real" computer > that had all those features built-in... Of course, a "real" computer probably wouldn't weigh a pound or so and fit in a normal briefcase, purse etc. And the size/cost estimates are wildly imaginative! > > The Portfolio sounds nice when you read the publicity releases.. but take > a closer look before getting your hopes up... ... and then you'll see that publicity releases, press articles, and word of mouth just can't do it justice - it's even better! > > BobR Roy Good / Atari