News - Jul.91 - Sep.91
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From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG) Subject: News - Jul.91 - Sep.91 Date: Sun Feb 27 16:04:04 1994 Time Capsule - News - Jul.91 - Sep.91 ------------------------------------- News Subject Title Date Posted ------------------ ----------- Report from the MIST AtariFest III Aug.02,1991 Show report 1 Aug.19,1991 Show report 2 from Znet9132 Aug.19,1991 Interview with Bob B. from Znet9132 Aug.19,1991 Z*Net: Professional Systems Group Launches Aegis Program Aug.28,1991 Z*Net: Aegis Program a Hit Aug.28,1991 Blue Ridge Atari Fest Aug.28,1991 Asherville Atari Show Aug.28,1991 STReport Confidential - August 9, 1991 Aug.28,1991 Chicago ComputerFest by Atari Sep.06,1991 Re: Chicago ComputerFest by Atari Sep.09,1991 -------------------------------------- Article #260 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: sir-alan!aquila!davidj@uunet.uu.net (David Johnson) Subject: Report from the MIST AtariFest III Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Edited-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Fri Aug 2 11:57:18 1991 David Johnson, an Atari 16/32-bit Computer Support Team member Report from the MIST AtariFest III -- By David Johnson On July 27, 1991, MIST (Mid-Indiana ST) held their third annual AtariFest in the Castleplace Conference Center in Indianapolis. Attending were quite a few Atari vendors, and more than a few Atari users. Bob Brodie of Atari was also there, but more on him later. First, the highlights from the vendors: AIM (Atari Interface Magazine) was selling copies of their magazine for $2.00, and also had program disks for sale. Bill Rayl gave a seminar on "Desktop Publishing with Lexicor" (according to the program, that is-- I assume they meant "Desktop Video"), in which he showed off some of Lexicor's graphics software and answered questions on the Lexicor line. Apprentice Software (P.O. Box 41277 Indianapolis, IN 46241) demonstrated their Neural Network Construction Set, a program which simulates the artificial intelligence technology of a neural network on the ST. It seems to be, if nothing else, a very interesting specialty product for the ST. Since I'm no nerual network expert, I probably shouldn't say too much more; you can write for more information at the above address. MP Graphics Systems, an Indianapolis firm who sets up DynaCADD systems, was demonstrating one of its systems--DynaCADD running in color on a TT, connected to an IBM plotter. Watching the TT control the plotter seemed to be a popular pasttime, as people stood around and waited for the plotter to finish each drawing. SoftLogik had PageStream 2.1 running on a TT with color monitor. Screen output was excellent, and rotated text was quite impressive. This program looks like a winner. Touch Technologies (100 Cheviot Dr. Bartlett, IL 60103) displayed their TouchTech system--an ST combined with a touch-sensitive screen which can be used for a variety of applications. At the show, they were running a restaurant program to demonstrate their system--orders could be placed by touching the item on screen, the bill is then displayed, and the user can edit the bill as needed. It was a very interesting system--hopefully there is an adequate market for such a niche product. Others attending the show included D.A. Brumleve (children's programs), Clear Thinking (EdHak, the "edit anything" program), CompuServe, Electronic Spinster Graphics (clip art), Gribnif (NeoDesk, Steno, STalker, Cardfile), ICD (hard drives, host adaptors, lots of other cool hardware), a representative from ISD (Calamus), MegaType (fonts and other DTP stuff), MissionWare (LottODDS, Printer Initializer), MS Designs (fonts), SKWare One (Seurat, a paint program), and WizWorks (Mug Shot, Image Cat, MVG, and clip art). Several user groups and computer retailers also attended. At 3:00, Bob Brodie began his seminar. The room was quite packed (partly due to its small size)--people had to sit on a table and on the floor. Everyone seemed to enjoy his talk, however. Some highlights: FSM/GDOS will be released in August for less than $100. It will include FSM/GDOS itself, the CPX for controlling it, and the Lucida font family. It will have color printing support. A printer of at least the capability of the Epson FX80 Plus will be required for output. The TT and Mega STe are currently shipping, though they are on backorder. Atari is arranging to increase manufacturing capacity by signing up more companies to make the machines. The Mega STe (and the TT) do not use the infamous RF shield any more--instead, Atari is using RF paint, which provides much easier access to the inside of the machine. At the CEPS show, Atari "did incredibly well," which may be part of the reason that TTs are in such short supply--publishers are starting to buy them to do their layout and design. Atari plans to repeat its success at the CBOLT show in San Jose, which is the followup show to CEPS. Atari is working to create a much more global software market, with special emphasis on getting U.S. products into wider European distribution. The STylus and ST Notebook computers will be released at Comdex. The 8 bit computers are doing well in the Soviet Union, Poland, China, and Mexico. Development is continuing at Atari on an updated version of what is now known as Word Up. Atari does intend to release the new word processor program when it's finished. The upcoming issue of Atari Explorer is delayed (from production difficulties, if I remember correctly), and it will be out very soon. Atari does not plan to start many marketing campaigns until the economy significantly improves. The CD-ROM drive is in production, but since there is not much software available in the U.S. right now, it is not widely distributed here. It's popular in Australia, however. Atari is planning some 520STE bundles to come out soon, and hopes to sell the bundles through mass merchants. Later, after his seminar, Bob Brodie said that, contrary to many reports, Word Perfect version 5 is still in the works. In fact, Word Perfect recently ordered a few TTs--they must be using them for something, and that something is WP 5.x. Also, the new, smaller Lynx is currently shipping. Look for them soon in your local stores. After Bob Brodie's seminar, I made the rounds once more to see if anything new had popped up. Nothing caught my eye, and after a little while, I got in my car for the trip back home to Evansville. The trip to Indy was quite worthwhile--if you have time next year, I recommend that you make the trip. See you there! David Johnson - aq009@cleveland.freenet.edu (Reach me this summer at davidj@aquila.UUCP) Article #262 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: sytang@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Shoou-yu tang) Subject: Show report 1 Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Mon Aug 19 00:10:47 1991 Show report from Znet9132 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE August 2, 1991 Issue #91-32 Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs Editor: John Nagy Z*Net New Zealand: Jon Clarke Z*Net Canada: Terry Schreiber PD Editor: Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= MID INDIANA ST ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT ------------------------------------ by Bob Brodie, Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corp. ======================================================================= For the last two years, a small gathering of Atarians has met in Bloomington, Indiana. The groups have used the gathering as a chance to have a swap meet, and attract a few small developers. MIST is an association of three users groups that has shared members, and needs over the past few years. The groups that form MIST are ASCII- located in Indianapolis, BLAST- located in Bloomington, and PAUG- located in West Lafayette on the campus of Purdue University. Their goal has been to share information, ideas, make new friends. In making the move to Indianapolis, the members hoped that they would share the burden of putting on the event a little bit better. This years show was put on at CADRE, Inc, a local CAD firm. The show area was a comfortable seminar area at CADRE, with carpeting, air conditioned, and easy access to hotels and local eateries. The wide open seminar room was laid out logically, so visitors would have an easy path in making their way around the show. Exhibitors at this event included: Atari Corporation MP Graphic Design Gribnif Software CompuServe AT/Com Electronics Clear Thinking Software Unicorn Publications Randall's Home Computers MegaType Electronic Spinster Graphics Mar's Merchandising Touch Technologies SKWare One Softlogik Computer Works ICD Cal Com DA Brumleve Apprentice Software One STop MS Designs Wiz Works also attending were a number of user groups: Milwaukee Atari ST of Milwaukee, WI Cin'tari of Cincinnati, OH STar of Belleville, IL Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts, Waukegan, IL Eastside Atari Users Group, Alton, IL From the moments the door opened, the show was very, very busy. Show organizers were pleased with the turnout for Atarifest III! Once again, the combination of inexpensive tables for developers ($50 a table!) and low admission made this event a can't miss affair! While the turnout was great, and the crowd was active, I never felt like I was in a rush to get to the next person. Instead, I found people to be quite patient waiting for their turn to talk with me about what was going on in the Atari Community. I was quite surprised at the distance that some people drove to attend this event. Spotted in the crowd was Paul Plants of the WACO User Group from the Pittsburgh, PA area! Attending from Huntsville, Alabama was John Cole, ST Vice President of the Huntsville Atari Users Group. Other people told me that they had driven up from Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan. I met so many new faces, I'm sure that I've overlooked a number of people in this report. The MIST organizers set up the exhibition area in a large open area of CADRE's conference center. In addition, they had seminars set up in a room down the hall from the main area, which sat around 150 people. The entrance to the show was in yet another area, which also had a MIDI-Maze ring set up in it. Dan Ward from ASCII set up a large "white board" that he posted all door prize winners on. Nice touch, Dan! There was even a convenient Coke machine! A number of developers that couldn't attend this show demonstrated their support for MidWestern Atarians by sending along door prizes or advertising in the show program. Among them was ISD Marketing, which donated Calamus, Outline Art, The Calamus Font Editor, a copy of the Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing. Current Notes, the Washington D.C. area based magazine offered a subscription to Current Notes, as well an ad in the show program. Fonts by Guber sent 3 PageStream font disk certificates. The show organizers kept trying to tell me that they only had 250 people or so that had shown up. I couldn't believe it, I've been to enough of these events that I just *knew* that the crowd was much better than that! Sure enough! During teardown the show officials acknowledged that they had miscounted. The attendance was 450+! Now there's a number I can believe in! The developers expressed great satisfaction with this event. Tricia Metcalf from Gribnif Software told me that sales were better than they had been at the Windsor Show, which was a two day event with much higher booth prices! ICD sold out of a number of items. Wiz Works was badgered by people all day that wanted to buy Migraph scanner modules to use with MVG, and I was one of them! Some of the user groups expressed disappointment with the sales of their PD libraries, while others did just great. The LCACE gang did a bang up business, and EAUG had a terrific looking booth. For me, one of the highlights of the day was the MARC Meeting. Under the leadership of Hank Vize, MARC (Midwest Atari Regional Council) is trying to make sure that all of the groups in the midwest stay in good contact with each other. This meeting was open to user group officers only, and had a fine turnout. MARC started in the St. Louis area. I visited them in late '89, and just kind of casually remarked to Hank that it was a shame that the local groups didn't talk more. He took the idea and ran with it, and now MARC has an e-mail list that goes from St. Louis to South Bend, Indiana! Keep up the good work, guys! Look for the gang from St. Louis to have a bigger role in next years MIST Show. Maybe they'll have to give the show a new name! Another bright spot was a tour of Purdue University. Professor Dennis Short of Purdue's Technical Graphics Department is an Atari fan! He's got a number of labs at Purdue that are crammed full of IBM/PS2's and Macs. But in his office, he's got an Atari TT, running DynaCadd and NeoDesk3! Professor Short is excited about the high speed performance of DynaCadd. He's proposed a lab of TT's to Purdue University, all to be running DynaCadd! Professor Short is faculty advisor to the Purdue Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and spent several hours at the show. During dinner on Friday night, he expressed sincere appreciation for all of the support Atari developers have provided him as he's learned the ins and outs of the TT030! Not without a fun streak in him though, I caught the professor taking a hard look at a Lynx! Hmmm, what that line about all work and no play? MP Designs is the Indianapolis based VAR that is servicing Purdue's Atari needs. I'm grateful to the organizers of the MIST Atarifest III for allowing me to participate in this event. Congratulations on a job well done! Article #263 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: sytang@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Shoou-yu tang) Subject: Show report 2 from Znet9132 Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Mon Aug 19 00:12:23 1991 This show report from Znet9132. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE August 2, 1991 Issue #91-32 Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs Editor: John Nagy Z*Net New Zealand: Jon Clarke Z*Net Canada: Terry Schreiber PD Editor: Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= BRACE ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT --------------------------- by the Z*Net Staff and Bob Brodie, Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corporation ======================================================================= Saturday, July 20th was a great day in Asheville, NC. Atarians from all over the southeast came together once again to enjoy their hobby at the second annual Blue Ridge Atarifest. The event is co-sponsored by the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and the local Atari dealer, Computer STudio. Sheldon Winick is the well known owner of Computer STudio. This was the second time Atarians had come to Asheville for the Blue Ridge Atarifest. Last year was the first event, inspired by a visit from Bob Brodie of Atari. When Bob arrived, he found an exceptional Atari dealership, and excited users. A total of about 150 people turned out for the inaugural Blue Ridge Atarifest. Most of the rest of the exhibitors at the first "show" were other Atari owners who enjoyed sharing their expertise in particular areas of their hobby. Included in last years exhibitors was a number of members from KAUG, the Knoxville Atari Users Group. Clifton Willard, a video professional, returned with the rest of the gang from KAUG for the second Blue Ridge Atarifest. No one has ever accused Bob Brodie of hiding a good thing! He was sure to tell one and all about the great impression Asheville's fine folk had made on him. This year, the show moved itself up by several notches! There were a number of other professional developers that attended the Blue Ridge Atarifest this year, and even more people! As before, the show was held in the lovely Westgate Shopping Center, in which Computer STudio is located. In a major switch from the norm of most other Atari shows, BRACE and Computer STudio made this event *FREE* to everyone! There was no charge for admission, and no charge to any of the developers that chose to display their wares in Asheville for the day! Computer STudio is a full service Atari retailer, carrying the full line of Atari products. On display in the store was the TT030, with 8 megs of ram, a Mega/STE with four megs of ram, 1040 STEs, Stacys, Lynx, and the Portfolio palmtop computer. Computer STudio is a well stocked dealer, with over 500 software titles available on the shelf. Folks from all over the southeast came to see this event. User groups were reported present from KAUG, the Knoxville Atari Users Group, the East Tennesee Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and other groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and even Florida was represented at this event. Among the people that drove up to this southern style gathering was the colorful and controversial Ralph Mariano. Most Atarians recognize Ralph as being the publisher of ST Report, a weakly rumor column distributed primarily on the FNET. In addition to ST Report, Mariano also has his own hard drive business, ABCO Computer. The vocal Mariano, ever a curiosity to the end users and developers alike, elected not to take a booth to show his famous ABCO hard disks, but rather opted to try to mingle with the crowd at the event. Bob enjoyed an opportunity to meet Ralph's sons, who also came for the journey north. Hmmm, wonder if they read ST Report? The once influential journalist hosted his own seminar toward the end of the day entitled "Current Events". It was an event not to be forgotten: entertaining, humuorous, and unclouded by facts. D.A. Brumleve and her family took time out from their vacation to swing through Asheville. Dorothy had her KIDPRGs on display, and enjoyed speaking to the many new users that she encountered there. Unlike many of the booths at shows, Dorothy's is one that the parents can encourage their children to use the computer! No worries about lost data at Dorothy's booth. She's always glad to get the little ones up to the screen. It's usually not too longer after the kids get busy with the KIDPRGs that Mom and Dad notice that maybe their kid isn't too young to use a computer after all! Always a seminar favorite, Dorothy gave a session on "Empowering You Learners Through Technology". Located down the hall from his wife, was Dr. Timothy Brumleve, who has written his own librarian for a Kawai synthesizer. Tim hosted a MIDI seminar to demonstrate his K5/K5m Voice Librarian. Many of the great sounds heard throughout the Westgate Shopping Center this day were courtesy of Tim Brumleve! Along with Tim, Mike Cloninger was on hand from Dragon Studio to show off some his stuff, done with Cubase. GEnie was well represented by Darlah Pine, head of the Atari Roundtables on GEnie. Hooked up live to GEnie, Darlah showed how to get around the system to the new users. Most of them were impressed with Atari's official online service! Genie's Basic Services are an exceptional value! Darlah also showed the new subscribers how to locate the developers of their favorite programs, most of whom are probably online on GEnie now! Got a problem with a program? Here's how to send electronic mail to the company! Did you say that you were interested in public domain software? GEnie has simply the *best* online libraries around! Darlah remarked how wonderful it was to find so many new users at a show! It had been a long time since so many new folk had appeared at a show. John Fox of Goldleaf Publishing was on hand, his usual wacky self, to wow the crowd with WordFlair II. Word Flair II takes advantage of Atari's FSMGDOS, utilizing scalable outline font technology. A truly unique product, a document processor, Word Flair II let you integrate text, graphics, and data all on one page! Jeff Williams is a familiar sight to show goers as one of the syops from GEnie. Jeff has long been a fixture as the moderator of the Wed. night conferences on GEnie. Now Jeff is also with ICD, and ICD sent him to Asheville with an ample supply of host adapters, AdSpeed accelerators, and great deals on close out 8 bit stuff! Jeff displayed a STacy 4 with an AdSpeed up and running. ICD's products just seem to get better and better! Located inside the Computer STudio store, hidden behind a wall of people that constantly surrounded him was none other than Nathan Potechin of ISD Marketing. Nathan was showing off Calamus S/L on the Atari TT030 at Computer STudio. People were lined up three and four deep from opening till about 2:30 to speak with Nathan, and to see the power of Calamus S/L. Nathan also gave a seminar later in the day on Atari Desktop Publishing using Calamus. Always easy to approach, Nathan spent time with new friends discussing Calamus, Outline Art, DynaCadd, and the Independent Association of Atari Developers. Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software is the author of Tracker/ST. Tracker is a powerful application that offers a complete mail manager with a quick letter option, label printing and more. Nevin is one of the sysops of the SoftLogik Roundtable on GEnie, and also gave folks a look at the powerful new version of PageStream. Better known in some circles for his Rumor City column in ST Informer, Nevin proves every month that you can kiss & tell if you do it right! Everyone likes to keep up with the latest scoop on the Atari community. Nevin shares his rumors with little flash and no slash, and lots of class. Refreshing reading for everyone! Other pseudo journalists would do well to consider his approach! Nevin sold out of Tracker/ST at this show! In addition to Nevin, ST Informer was also represented by Brian Gockley. Brian and his lovely wife had great supplies of ST Informers' A & D Software, including the Universal Item Selector and the Universal Network. Down from Virginia for the Blue Ridge Atarifest came Don and Carole Terp. These longtime Atarians might be remembered by some for their writings in the Atari community. They started ST Business magazine, and then published their original material in ST Applications. Now under the name of Reed Mountain Press, Don discussed the business side of desktop publishing. Clifton Willard was again on hand from Knoxville to show off his fabulous video creations, all generated using an Atari computer. Those doubters that the ST's video capabilities should have been present. His creations are simply fabulous! While not showing an Atari specific products, author Ralph Roberts spent time discussing Computer Viruses...the topic of his book. He has also written a series of Leisure Suit Larry hint books. Ralph autographed copies of his book as a special bonus to show attendees. Although not exhibiting per se, any report would be remiss if it didn't mention the attendance of Bill Aycock, Compuserve Sysop. Bill was easy to approach, and quite open about discussing the current state of CompuServe. If your a Portfolio user, CompuServe has an excellent Portfolio forum! Last, but certainly not least was Bob Brodie of Atari Computer Corporation. Bob spent most of his time helping out Darlah Pine showing of GEnie, and meeting new friends from the south. Bob especially enjoyed being right across the way from Computer STudio. It made it so easy for him to refer people to a great store just a few feet away to have their needs met. Instead of having to suggest that a dealer *might* have what the user needed, chances are that Computer STudio would already have the product in stock. And speaking of Computer STudio, Sheldon Winick and staff were on the go from almost before opening the store to the very end of the day. Lines are the cash register were typically about 4 deep. Sheldon was all smiles by the end of the day. I'd bet that this day goes down in Computer STudio history as one of the best. Did you say *the* best? Could be! The many specials that were run were sure to please any budget, and developers seemed to be all aglow as well. Beyond a doubt, this gathering brought together a fine balance of buyers and sellers! Clearly, credit for this event must go to the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts and Computer STudio. How many other shows in recent memory offer to provide developer space for free, and *no admission* charge? Hmmm, sounds like a pretty REVOLUTIONARY idea to me! A show in a shopping center?? Even more REVOLUTIONARY stuff! Don Thomas would be pleased. And could there be any doubt that there will be a repeat performance? How could it go wrong! With free booths for the developers, the major cost that they will have to deal is more like transportation and hotels. What a pleasant change from other recent shows! Look for this event to grow into an even bigger event than the 500 people that attended this year. Look for the friendly people at Computer STudio to be host to *the* gathering point for southern Atarians! Sheldon told Bob that he is already in discussions with a major mall in Asheville to relocate Computer STudio there. Imagine how many non-Atarians will see next years show! Kudos to Sheldon and his fine staff, and the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts for putting on such a fine event! I'm looking forward to next year!! Article #264 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: sytang@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Shoou-yu tang) Subject: Interview with Bob B. from Znet9132 Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Mon Aug 19 00:13:13 1991 This is interview with BOB from Znet9132 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE August 2, 1991 Issue #91-32 Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs Editor: John Nagy Z*Net New Zealand: Jon Clarke Z*Net Canada: Terry Schreiber PD Editor: Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= INTERVIEW WITH BOB BRODIE ------------------------- by the Z*Net Online Staff, and Bob Brodie ======================================================================= Z*Net: Bob, Atari has announced their first AEGIS Conference to be held in Sunnyvale this next week. What exactly is the intent of the Aegis Program? Some people seem to think it's the same as the old "Business Computer Center". Bob: Nothing could be further from the truth. The old BCC has nothing in common with the AEGIS Program. The AEGIS program is designed to aid, and train our dealers. Under the BCC program, dealers had to spend money to keep certain minimums on hand. Yet with the AEGIS program, we're charging them NOTHING for their involvement. All of the training is provided free of charge. Z*Net: Is training the dealers all that is involved with the AEGIS Program? Or is there more to it than that? Bob: I'm not at liberty to discuss all the details at this time, but I can assure you that it involves much more than just training the dealers. We have additional opportunities for the dealers that we'll share with them next week. It would be inappropriate for them to be shared with your readers before the dealers all hear the program. Z*Net: So, what about some of the other things people have been reading about? Like minimum sales orders, monthly volume, etc.? Bob: I've read some of those things as well. (Laughing) It's really kind of weird to be here, see the program developing and then read online what the program is supposed to be! All I can tell you is to consider the source of the information your reading. I don't have much to say to National Enquirer type of publications. Z*Net: Sounds like a reasonable suggestion to me! But does the Aegis program in any way slow down the process of signing up more dealers for Atari? Bob: Not in the least! Atari has returned to distribution with their products with the specific intent of making Atari Computers more readily available to any dealer that wants them! We are presently dealing with a number of distributors nationwide, including one that is a MIDI specialist! While it's true that the TT will not be in the distribution channel, we think that's an appropriate move. Customers who purchase the TT deserve the finest support that they can get, from dealers that really know the product. With the lone exception of the TT products, all the rest of our products are available to any dealer via distribution! That includes laser printers, Mega STE's, hard drives, 1040 STE's, etc. We've even invited some significant distributors to the AEGIS training seminar. Z*Net: Anything else about the AEGIS seminar our readers might be interested in, Bob? Bob: The AEGIS seminar is most assuredly NOT just an Atari program. We have also secured the assistance of our developers in training our dealers at the AEGIS seminar. Only by the dealers understanding our products, and recognizing the *power* of the developers products will sales be generated. I've seen some comments online from some of the developers about their products in response to questions from new users. Frankly, some of their descriptions surprised me! It was some of the best presentations that I have seen on their products. Since we recognize that not all of our customers are online, it only makes sense to pass that information along to the resellers that will directly interface with the customer. That can best be accomplished by having the developers present at this event. Some of the developers that will at the AEGIS seminar include Nathan Potechin of ISD Marketing, Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software, Darin Kazmaier of SoftLogik Publishing, Lauren Flanagan-Sellers of Gold Leaf Publishing, Rick Flashman of Gribnif Software, Lee Seilor of Lexicor Software, and John Eidsvoog of CodeHead Software. Those are the ones that I can think of off of the top of my head. I'm sorry I don't have the list in front of me at the moment. James Grunke has arranged for some significant MIDI developers to be there as well, from Dr. T's and Steinberg Jones. Z*Net: This looks like a good mixture of products to me, Bob! Atari has provided a balance there between productivity packages, utilities, and MIDI. Certainly not just high end unaffordable applications!! Bob: This was exactly our goal. As always, there are people that wish they could have attended this event but could not. That includes both developers and dealers. The important thing to recognize is this is the first step! We're making some good moves with this, and it gives us a foundation to build on. We've considered the needs of *all* of our users, not just the high end ones. Z*Net: Thanks for taking time to speak with us, Bob! We're sure that our readers will appreciate this information on the Aegis program. Article #265 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: Z*Net: Professional Systems Group Launches Aegis Program Posted-By: xx004 (aa384 - Doug Wokoun) Reply-To: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Date: Wed Aug 28 23:12:10 1991 Taken from: Z*Net online magazine, issue #9131 (July 26, 1991): ======================================================================= ATARI NEWS UPDATE ----------------- Press Release ======================================================================= NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS GROUP LAUNCHES THE RENAISSANCE OF ATARI'S NORTH AMERICAN COMPUTING MARKET WITH THE AEGIS STRATEGIC PARTNER PROGRAM Sunnyvale, California - 25 July 1991 - The Professional Systems Group, a division of Atari Computer Corporation, will kick-off the AEGIS Strategic Partner program at the AEGIS Symposium to be held August 5 and 6. The AEGIS Strategic Partner program creates a unique relationship between Atari, its key resellers and its key developers. This relationship nurtures the development of both vertical-market and cross- discipline solutions, resulting in a strong and effective national sales organization. A key part of the AEGIS Strategic Partner program is the AEGIS Symposium, a clearinghouse for the ideas and information that create powerful vertical-market solutions. The AEGIS Symposium is a two-day product training event with participation from both key resellers and key developers. The first AEGIS Symposium will be held August 5 and 6 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Sunnyvale, California and at the Cogswell Polytechnical College in Cupertino, California. Over 50 computer and music sales, third-party software, and Atari representative personnel will be in attendance. Key software developers attending the AEGIS Symposium include: C-Lab Software, Dr. T's Music Software, Hybrid Arts, Roland Corporation USA, Steinberg/Jones, Codehead Software, Goldleaf Publishing, Gribnif Software, ISD Marketing, Soft-logik Publishing and Step Ahead Software. -- Article #266 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: Z*Net: Aegis Program a Hit Posted-By: xx004 (aa384 - Doug Wokoun) Reply-To: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Date: Wed Aug 28 23:20:38 1991 Taken from: Z*Net online magazine, issue #9133 (August 9, 1991): ======================================================================= AEGIS PROGRAM A HIT ------------------- by John Nagy ======================================================================= Thirty-five representatives from twenty-three separate dealers attended Atari's latest dealer education and assistance program, "AEGIS", this week in Sunnyvale. Called by some of those who participated "the single most encouraging and invigorating event ever in Atari dealer relations", the Aegis program was a major hit. The program was presented without cost to the dealers, and major distributors were also invited. According to Atari, "the AEGIS Strategic Partner program creates a unique relationship between Atari, its key resellers and its key developers. This relationship nurtures the development of both vertical -market and cross-discipline solutions, resulting in a strong and effective national sales organization." The first AEGIS Symposium was held August 5 and 6 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Sunnyvale, California and at the Cogswell Polytechnical College in Cupertino, California. Over 50 computer and music sales, third-party software, and Atari representative personnel were in attendance. The program began with presentations by Atari President Greg Pratt, followed by other Atari notables such as Art Morgan, James Grunke, and Bob Brodie. Even Jack Tramiel dropped by in the afternoon to shake hands and wish the group well. The keynote of the conference was "targeted selling". MIDI and DTP were each singled out as the areas where Atari can and does excel, and these strengths were reinforced with sales techniques and technical insights. More than just an Atari program, the Aegis seminar featured key software developers, including: C-Lab Software, Dr. T's Music Software, Hybrid Arts, Roland Corporation USA, Steinberg/Jones, Codehead Software, Goldleaf Publishing, Gribnif Software, ISD Marketing, Soft-logik Publishing and Step Ahead Software. Day two of the program split the dealers by their main product interest. The Music group went to the college at Cupertino for laboratory approach to their presentations, while the DTP group stayed at the hotel. Both sessions featured comprehensive presentations of the products by the developers in attendance, involving the dealers in the software that they already have to sell. By the dealers' increased understanding of the products and recognizing the power of the developers products, sales are expected to grow. A program of the "Professional Systems Group", the Aegis Strategic Partner Program was universally well received. Mark Krynsky of The Computer Network in Glendale, California, said that he was encouraged far beyond his hopes by what he saw and heard at the seminars. "I've already seen a significant effect on my store's sales after only a few days of implementation of what I learned at Aegis". Dealers were also coached on how to approach the vertical markets with private professional seminar programs. Many of the dealers are excited about the possibilities of these markets that they had previously not really considered. Dealers were also cheered up considerably by the assurances of imminent arrival of large quantities of Atari hardware, including the much sought but back ordered Mega STe. Over and above the training function of Aegis' first sessions, the dealers and developers got to know each other on a much closer basis. A Monday evening party in Nevin Shalit's room (Step Ahead Software - Tracker ST) was attended by many, including Leonard Tramiel. The social time was as valuable as many parts of the seminars to increase the sense of partnership in success in the Atari community... and offered an informal chance to discuss the hardware and software rumored to be forthcoming from Atari. Future sessions of the Aegis program are expected to be scheduled based on feedback and results of this first event. They are expected to be similar, but topics will expand to include other high-potential areas like video as well as more DTP and MIDI applications. -- Article #267 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: Blue Ridge Atari Fest Posted-By: xx004 (aa384 - Doug Wokoun) Reply-To: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Date: Wed Aug 28 23:25:05 1991 Taken from: ST Report online magazine, issue #730 (July 26, 1991): > Blue Ridge Atari Fest STR SHOW NEWS "EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORTS" =================================== ATARI FEST IN THE SKY ===================== by Ralph F. Mariano Following this diary like report, there is the observations of other folks who were in attendance at the Blue Ridge Fest, I'm sure you'll enjoy those too. Back to the Fest, we arrived early friday afternoon. I drove up from Jacksonville with two of my sons, (there are four). One could immediately appreciate the fine mountain air it was cooler than I was ac- customed to and it was fresh. At night you could see lightning bugs. Its been reported that they are very particular creatures, they will not populate an area that does not have high quality air. I haven't seen lightning bugs yet in Jacksonville, Florida, it must be those effervescent paper mills that seem to "glow in the night". I visited the mall where the show was scheduled to be held and found that everything was in readiness. Sheldon Winick, owner of Computer Studio, had everything well under control and... I might add this fellow is a class act all by himself. His store was an oasis in the eyes of all beholders. Imagine how unique, an Atari store with hardware and software in stock! The show began at noon on Saturday I arrived shortly thereafter, the show was scheduled to run 'til 6pm that same day. The show certainly received plenty of publicity via Sheldon's advertisements on TV promoting Atari and the show. By the way, there was NO front money from Atari, the front money came out of Sheldon's pocket. I asked him if there was a pos- sibility of reimbursement and he was confident that the co-op advertising arrangement Atari has for its dealers would cover the cost. Computer Studio is a fine example of a high quality Atari Store that's designed to cater to 'all' Atarians. About 8 - 10 feet to the left of the entrance was "the setup" ..a TT, Calamus SL, a plotter and SLM605 laser. This was where Nathan spent the best part of his time showing the finer points of Calamus SL. Between those who were watching Nathan and those waiting in, what seemed like, a perpetually long line to the check out at the cash register, there was a constant flow of people gathered around and passing by Nathan. The store itself is an exercise in perfection, an ideal example of how a first rate store should appear. There was ample software on display, (everywhere you looked), plenty of hardware for all to see and touch and of course, the needed inventory to satisfy everyone even the most discerning of shoppers. The exhibitors all had fine mini-shows going, displaying their products for all to see. A number of exhibitors declared they were 'sold out' at the end of the day. Nevin Shalit, Step Ahead Software, said it was an excellent day. ICD had the prototype of their new 16Mhz accelerator on hand for all to see. Jeff Williams, ICD's rep, detailed the design to all who expressed an interest in the 1040STe 16Mhz upgrade. As usual, the appearance of the board was excellent and very professional. A&D Software was well represented by B. Gockley and his wife, they did an excellent job of demoing A&D's fine offerings. Goldleaf had their goodies giving cause to all who stopped by the exhibit to proclaim all the ooh's and aah's normally heard whenever the Atari computers get going with super impressive software. ISD's Nathan Potechin was quite busy demoing Calamus SL in Sheldon's store and trying to keep up with the action in the mall's concourse. The show's seminars went quite well, there were two spacious rooms, one on the main concourse and the other off to one side, setup to stage the informative and entertaining seminars in. The afternoon's schedule was setup to present the seminars concurrently in both rooms except for the last two seminars (STReport & Atari). They were scheduled to take place in the main seminar room on the concourse. As a result, they both were SRO. The room itself sat 110 people. Both the STReport and Bob Brodie seminars were packed and ran overtime. On a scale of 10, the show easily reached a 10 and is definitely on our list of shows to participate in next year. To Sheldon Winick and all the support folks from BRACE .. "A job well done!" -- Article #268 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: Asherville Atari Show Posted-By: xx004 (aa384 - Doug Wokoun) Reply-To: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Date: Wed Aug 28 23:26:28 1991 Taken from: ST Report online magazine, issue #730 (July 26, 1991): The Asheville Atari Show ======================== posted by Bill Aycock 76703,4061, CIS Sysop The Blue Ridge Atari Fest was just a half-day show, so I'm back in Greensboro now. Somewhere around 400 Atarians from all over the southeast showed up, some of them driving four or five hours to get there! I think it was a very successful show, when you take the size into account. Lotsa folks bought lotsa stuff. :-) The folks from Double Click weren't able to make it, but all the other exhibitors showed up. Here's a quick rundown: John Fox from Goldleaf showed off Wordflair II, their new Document Processor. It's kind of a cross between a word processor and a desktop publisher, and it was really impressive - I even picked up a copy! It looked to be easy to use and very powerful, with lots of nifty features. The folks who designed it did a good job! (I'm sure the Goldleaf people here would be glad to give you more details.) Wordflair II uses the new FSM-GDOS outline fonts to produce great output. (FWIW, Bob Brodie stated a number of times that FSM-GDOS should be shipping around the first of next month. Of course he couldn't _promise_ that, but he was fairly confident. Also FWIW, FSM-GDOS is controlled through a slot in the new CPX control panel.) Goldleaf's demo was running on an 8-meg TT with a big monitor, but the docs say it should run on an ST with at least 1 meg and two double-- sided drives. (Obviously, the more memory the better, and a hard drive is highly recommended!) Jeff Williams from ICD had a table filled with their hardware and software for STs- host adapters, AdSpeeds, Cleanup ST, etc. He also brought some stuff for 8-bitters- an MIO, SpartaDOS and related programs, Mac65, cables, and the like. Dorothy Brumleve's table had a demonstration of her kidprgs. She also gave a talk titled "Empowering Young Learners Through Technology." Nathan Potechin from ISD Marketing was there to represent the Calamus line. He gave a seminar on Calamus SL. Darlah Pine also attended, and showed off Genie to interested parties. Nevin Shalit from Step Ahead Software had a booth demonstrating his Tracker/ST. He held a seminar that explained Tracker/ST, and also showed off the new features of PageStream's latest release. Don Terp, a long-time Atarian from Read Mountain Press, gave a talk on "DTP on Atari Computers". Other exhibitors included Ralph Roberts, author of "Computer Viruses", Brian Gockley from ST Informer, and Clifton Willard from Willard Produc- tions. There were also a number of people showing off MIDI-related software- Mike Cloninger from Dragon Studio, Dr. Tim Brumleve with the K5/K5M voice librarian, and Eric White from KAUG (the Knoxville user group) with a MIDI demo. (The MIDI stuff was in another hallway, and since it's all beyond me I didn't spend much time there. :-) Of course, Ralph Mariano of STReport was everywhere, seeing everything and everyone <grin>. He gave an interesting talk titled "Current Events"; no doubt he'll be reporting on the show himself. Likewise, Bob Brodie from Atari was on the scene, talking with everyone. His seminar packed the meeting room, and was a great way to cap off the day. There were a bunch of door prizes: copies of Tracker/ST and EdHack, four sets of TOS 1.4 ROMs, $100 gift certificates from ABCO, a Migraph hand scanner with TouchUp, and lots more I couldn't keep track of. :-) So there's the gist of the show. It was the first AtariFest I've been able to attend, and despite the small size it was a lot of fun! -- Article #269 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: STReport Confidential - August 9, 1991 Posted-By: xx004 (aa384 - Doug Wokoun) Reply-To: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Date: Wed Aug 28 23:28:32 1991 Taken from: ST Report online magazine, issue #732 (August 9, 1991): > STReport CONFIDENTIAL "ATARI NEWS FIRST!" ===================== - Toronto, Canada Waterloo Maple; No 5.0 for ST? --------------- Waterloo Maple, a Canadian software publisher producing an excellent symbolic math program for the ST and other platforms has released the new version 5.0. However, the ST will not, at this time, be included due to poor sales for the ST version 4.3. This does not however preclude an op- tion for its being done at a later date. Maple 4.3 is the last version written for the ST. Waterloo Maple may be reached at 519-747-2373. - Milwaukee, WI ATARI "SHOWS UP" @ GENCON! ------------- THIS ITEM (Below) CAME THROUGH THE NETS EARLIER THIS WEEK.... Atari had promised for several months to be a participant at the Gen- con show. However, they will not be present as Atari computers in California reportedly did not work with Atari Games Division in Lombard, Il. Apparently, both thought the other had secured booth space and neither did. By the time the error was caught, it was too late. Only MilAtari Usergroup will have a few machines there, not the representation originally promised and expected. ITS NOT ACCURATE.... Clearly an example of either dis-information or paranoic reaction. I put it here to show how misleading or early info can be erroneous at publication time. And now.... Bob Brodie is at GenCon at this time with a slew of machines setup for the use of spectators along with a large number of Lynx game machines. The spectators seem to be enjoying the daylights out of "MidiMaze" or, so I am told. I hope Bob's luggage catches up with him.... :-) - Austin, TX SFAN PROGRESS "VERY POSITIVE!" ---------- Despite some false starts with Atari shipping department the TT030 was successfully delivered to Michael Kelley of The Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Network. With two minor "glitches" (including no manual, no mouse, and a damaged-in-shipping keyboard) it's still not all "blue sky", but the Mega keyboard works fine and the BEST Trackball seems the proper fit for the TT. In company with the TT (actually arriving shortly before the TT030 arrived on the doorstep) came LEXICOR's Prism-Paint and Chronos 3-D, as well as Calamus Outline Art, everything that Double-Click makes, and ad- vance access to PageStream v2.1 via the SoftLogik BBS. Perhaps there is industry criticism of the lack of "TT-specific" software, but the function of the software that is installed on this TT is nothing short of amazing. LEXICOR's products are eye-catching and jaw-dropping; Calamus Outline Art zips along admirably; Double-Click's utility programs are indispensible (how much faster can something un-ARC?); and PageStream users will note that a page of 12-point text in one of the three CompuGraphic fonts requires a total of 7-9 SECONDS to format and start printing on the SLM804 follow-on pages happen so fast they actualy stack up behind each other waiting to print and the output quality EQUALS PostScript (tested eyeball-to-eyeball against UltraScript output). Bill Rehbock and Mike Fulton at Atari have both been working harder and harder and we especially appreciate Mike Fulton's efforts, answers, and availability. As things progress we anticipate a much closer relationship and continued development of the level of cooperation. Walter Koenig (STAR TREK's "Mr. Chekov") made his deal with Atari for a Mega STe4 and SLM605 laser printer, both of which have been delivered to Eidsvoog of Codehead Software for setup and delivery to Koenig. Anticipate seeing Koenig in a print ad sometime around the STAR TREK VI press push. SFA Network appreciates the cooperation of Atari, Sam Tramiel, Bill Rehbock, and Mike Fulton, as well as the other fine members of the Independent Association of Atari Developers who have given of their work to contribute to this effort. -- Article #270 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: al163@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Brown) Subject: Chicago ComputerFest by Atari Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Fri Sep 6 11:40:27 1991 Chicago ComputerFest by Atari in High Gear! Atari Corp. (U.S.) Director of Corporate Communications, Bob Brodie, announced today that Atari U.S. President, Greg Pratt, has worked out an agreement with the Ramada Hotel O'Hare, and that the Chicago ComputerFest by Atari, November 23 and 24th 1991, is now officially the first directly Atari-sponsored computer show in North America. Atari Corp. has reserved over 20,000 sq ft in the Ramada Hotel O'Hare convention center for the main floor, a 300 person cap- acity general presentation hall, 6 demonstration/presentation rooms for vendor Q&A sessions, a dedicated "hands on" educational area, an "open gaming area" consisting of over 100 stations, and a dedicated 8-bit exhibitor area. The Chicago ComputerFest will be the first Atari-oriented show in North America to feature not only the best of the Atari-specific developers, but other computer industry leaders such as Word Perfect, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Epson, USRobotics, Egghead Software, and Hayes. These exhibitors will be in attendance to demonstrate their latest products as well as answer technical questions about how their products work in the Atari environment. Atari themselves has promised that the exciting new products planned to be shown at Fall Comdex, will also be on exhibit at the Chicago ComputerFest- just days later. Atari has committed to a full professional display at this show; Atari plans to bring at least 10 technical advisors and company representatives to the Chicago ComputerFest. Be prepared to "meet the people who make it happen". Special hotel rates for show attendees have been negotiated with the Ramada Hotel O'Hare. $60.00 a night (double occupancy) and $90.00 a night for suites (plus tax). Please call 708-827-5131 for res- ervations; you must mention "Chicago ComputerFest by Atari" to get these special rates. Each guest room includes Color Television, in-room movies, radio, direct dial telephone, climate control, and electronic minibar-snack service. The Ramada Hotel O'Hare features indoor and outdoor swimming pools, whirlpool, sauna, sunbed, massages, exercise room, electronic game room, 2 outdoor tennis courts, 9 hole-par 3 lighted golf course and jogging trails on 25 acres. The Ramada Hotel O'Hare is situated just outside the northeast gate to O'Hare International Airport, near the intersection of I-90, I-294 and I-190. There will be complementary airport limo service provided for hotel guests from all airport terminals. Admission to the Chicago ComputerFest by Atari will be $6.00 per day at the door. A two-day ticket set will be available through users groups for $10.00. The Educational Hands-on sessions and Open Gaming/Contest areas will require additional fees. There will be continuous drawings for valuable door prizes (must be present to win), and on Sunday at 4:00PM, Atari's Sam Tramiel will draw the name of the lucky winner of a complete Atari TT/030-8 Color system! (need not be present to win). For additional show information, exhibition space availability, program advertising rates, ticket sales, and information on the user group participation program, please contact us at: Chicago ComputerFest by Atari C/O LCACE P.O. Box 8788 Waukegan, IL 60079-8788 24hr Voice Hotline- 708-556-0682 Be there! Article #271 (376 is last): >Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news From: al163@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Brown) Subject: Re: Chicago ComputerFest by Atari Posted-By: xx004 (aa399 - Len Stys) Date: Mon Sep 9 12:07:08 1991 I'm sorry, but the original press release had an error in the voice phone number for Chicago Computerfest information (voice). The correct phone number is (708) 566-0682. If there is no one there, please leave a message on the answering machine, and we will call you back on our nickel. Mike \ LCACE
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