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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle
From: Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: PC portfolio
Message-ID: <18303@cup.portal.com>
Date: 13 May 89 06:15:37 GMT
References: <961@sactoh0.UUCP>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 26

Mark Newton-John had a few comments about my assesment of the Atari
Portfolio (which were contained in an answer to a question about the
capabilities of the machine).
 
Of course I haven't used the Portfolio yet.  My comments are based on the
Press coverage the machine has been getting.  This coverage, from the
information released by Atari, has been playing up the MS-DOS compatibility
without also covering the limitations.
 
Far from forgetting the market the Portfolio *should* be targeted for,
I'm well aware of what that market should be.  The Portfolio could be
thought of as a "peripherial" for an existing PC system, for use by
salesmen in the field, for transporting files between work and home
PCs, and as a compact "electronic notepad" that's easily transportable.
 
Unfortunately, so far, that is NOT the impression being given to the
public.  We'll have to wait and see if Atari defines the marketplace
for the Portfolio, or tries to sell it as a general purpose computer.

(Incidentally, I think that the Portfolio is quite a technical accomplishment
in reducing a 640K PC compatible system to such a small size.  If it could
be released along with the interfaces needed to connect it to the outside
world, along with software in its RAM-card format, it could be quite a
successful computer *in its own niche*.)
 
BobR