Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sunybcs!sbcs!rick
From: rick@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Rick Spanbauer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Amiga - what *is* the machines market definition?
Keywords: marketing, market definition, future
Message-ID: <2823@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
Date: 15 May 89 14:05:57 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Lines: 23

I've a list of some projects for the Amiga (mostly hardware) that
look nice on paper.  The question is "Will these products be commercially
viable?".  To determine viability I need to know roughly where people
think the machine will go and what (if any) market definition the Amiga
has.  To date I really haven't heard much out of Commodore about
what their view of the Amiga is, saving for one statement that "We just
want to sell machines" and "The Amiga is a sophisticated replacement
for our C128/C64, etc lines".  Neither answer is satisfactory at all in
that they don't identify who is buying the Amiga, and why.
The other question I have for people who respond to this message is:  
Have we defined the Amiga marketplace solely on price/performance 
rather than functionality?  A few ideas I am kicking around would
bring high performance at a higher price - without applications of
some substance that justify the machine (eg in PC market Autocad, etc
justify many of the high performance graphics adapter products), it
will be very hard to sell high cost enhancements.

Please respond by posting, ie don't deluge me with private e-mail.  I should 
like to hear from as many folks as possible on the issues mentioned in
this message.

					Rick Spanbauer
					SUNY/Stony Brook