ST Report: 22-Jun-90 #625
From: Len Stys (aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/30/90-03:14:17 AM Z
From: aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys)
Subject: ST Report: 22-Jun-90 #625
Date: Sat Jun 30 03:14:17 1990
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> 06/22/90: STReport? #6.25 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
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> The Editor's Podium?
Here we are, on the doorstep to Atari's "New Beginning" and we find
that the temper tantrums and the behind the scenes nonsense have yet to
slow one iota. Elsewhere in this issue we examine the 'long awaited'
release of the STe. Atari's market needed this release and there is no
doubt it will have a lasting effect on the future of Atari as has every
other major product release from Atari.
Amazingly, the grapevine tells us that the snippets emanating from
"The Day Care Center" have yet to subside, in fact, we have it on reliable
information that one 'trustee' in the center has sworn to step up these
nefarious activities. Oh well, 'Small things amuse small minds".
With the advent of Atari showing the TT in Canada, there now is a
glimmer of hope in the future for both Atari and the revival of its North
American marketplace. Of course, there are those who ask; "when is Atari
going to allow the USA to enjoy the ...." The answer is we are part of
North America, are we not? There are reports that the CD Rom is in
limited distribution and that the STe is in full distribution to through
out the USA, including major electronics distributors like Almo etc..
Perhaps, Atari's leadership is beginning to listen to the users, they've
only been begging for positive action for almost two years.
STReport, in keeping with the tradition of not masking or sugar
coating the facts has, in the past few weeks, noticed that a good number
of long time users have also decided to say it like it is. Perhaps a good
percentage of the entire userbase is now ready to deal with Atari on
mature head to head level instead of the condescending treatment Atari has
dealt to the userbase in the past. Of course, there are those who say
Atari is doomed etc... STReport says there is always hope for a bright
future as long as the leadership is willing to listen and make changes
when the changes are in the best interests of both the company and the
loyal users supporting the company. Time, will tell all......
Thanks for your support,
Ralph.....
OF NOTE: Atari Corp. may be moving to either Canada or the northeastern
United States. As this story develops, we will, of course, keep you up
to date. Half the warehouse facilities are already leased out.... If
Atari is moving, it now becomes very clear that the good folks who work
at Atari have also been placed in a very nasty position, especially
those who have recently relocated and bought homes in the Sunnyvale
area. According to our sources, certain employees have known of this
possible move for approximately 7 - 10 days....
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> CPU REPORT?
==========
Issue # 72
----------
by Michael Arthur
Remember When....
In 1975, Bill Gates began licensing his version of BASIC to a company
called MITS, which sold it for the Altair 8800 microcomputer?
And, after Bill Gates wrote an open letter to many computer magazines
saying that "if computerists did not stop stealing his software, he would
stop writing it?", he began a company called Microsoft, with its first
product called Microsoft BASIC?
CPU INSIGHTS?
============
COMDEX CHANGES ARISING FOR THE INTERFACE GROUP
----------------------------------------------
The Interface Group, the organization which holds the Spring Comdex
and Fall Comdex shows in the US, has recently announced that its first
Comdex/Europe show, held in April at Paris, was "very successful". This
show, which attracted 335 exhibitors and over 140,000 people, has been
viewed as an alternative to the annual CEBIT Show, held in Germany. While
the CEBIT show is the largest such computer exhibition in the world, the
Interface Group predicts that Comdex/Europe will quickly become a major
contender. Over 60 US firms have registered for Comdex/Europe Fall, which
is taking place on October 3-6, 1990, and 90 companies have already signed
up for the next Comdex/Europe Spring show, in April 22-27, 1991.
However, while Comdex/Spring (or Spring Comdex) is faring well in
Europe, it is experiencing harsh problems in the US. The most recent US
Show, held in Atlanta, wasn't attended by several computer companies,
(including IBM, Apple, Lotus, and Compaq, because of its traditionally low
attendance levels. Instead, many of these companies choose to attend Fall
Comdex which usually has twice the amount of attendance. Other companies
plan to follow their footsteps, because they "don't have to exhibit to
throw a party".
This comment may refer to an incident at Spring Comdex where
Microsoft, even though they didn't exhibit at the show, gained significant
press coverage nevertheless. It seems that rumors of a "Microsoft Party"
led many reporters to a small contingent of Microsoft employees, who led
them across the street from the World Congress Center (where Spring Comdex
is held), to a group of limousines which took the press to a private home
in Atlanta where Microsoft gave a short party/seminar on its Windows line
of software. Interestingly enough, Microsoft says that this was one in a
series of "road shows" aimed at users and Developers....
The Interface Group has also had to fight off a rumor that Spring
Comdex would be held in Chicago next year. This rumor was partly caused
by a few who believed that Atlanta lacked the quantity of exhibit space
needed for a show the size of Comdex to be held there. But one reason for
Comdex/Spring's troubles this year may have been scheduling problems. The
Interface Group originally planned the show to take place in Atlanta on
April, but then changed the location to Chicago. It then doubled back on
its decision, but by then exhibit space in Atlanta was already booked, and
Comdex/Spring had to be held in June. However, the CES Show was held at
the same time, and the PC Expo (which IBM and Apple ARE exhibiting at) was
being held later in June. Also, these same shows are usually attended by
many corporate executives intending to make firm buying decisions....
CPU Systems Roundup? XXXI
=========================
FEDERAL COURT REINSTATES STAY HALTING 68030 PRODUCTION
------------------------------------------------------
A day after a regional US District Court reinstated a ruling which
banned Motorola from manufacturing or selling its 68030 microprocessor in
America, Motorola obtained a temporary stay on the 68030 ban from the US
District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. In March 1990, Judge Lucius
Bunton (of the US District Court in Austin, Texas) had ruled that the MMU
(Memory Management Unit) used in the 68030 infringed on a Hitachi patent,
but he had temporarily delayed the 68030 ban until June 18. Motorola (who
earned $100 million dollars worth of 68030-related sales last year) then
appealed the ruling to the Federal Patent Appeals Court in Washington.
Under the terms of this stay, Motorola will file a formal motion for a
stay this week, but will be allowed to make and sell its 68030 chip until
a decision is reached on whether it can do so while the District Court
hears its case....
The original series of lawsuits between Hitachi and Motorola came from
difficulties arising after Motorola and Hitachi ended a long standing
technology sharing agreement in January 1989. Motorola charged that
Hitachi's H8/532 chip had infringed on its patents, while Hitachi charged
that the MMU used by the 68030 and 88000 microprocessors its '271' patent.
Both companies have been successful in their lawsuits, as Bunton ruled
that neither the H8/532 chip and the 68030 chip could be sold or made in
the US. In his ruling, Bunton urged both companies to settle their
disputes out of court.....
Ironically, while Judge Bunton delayed his ruling to give both
companies time to settle their difficulties out of court, Hitachi may have
little incentive to do so. While Hitachi cannot sell the H8/532 chip in
the US, it hasn't sold many of those chips in the US anyway. In fact,
Hitachi may decide to sue Motorola over the 68040, if the MMU design that
the 68040 chip uses is similar to the 68030's MMU....
Interestingly, this already-convoluted situation has taken yet another
turn. Yesterday, Hewlett-Packard announced that it has signed an
agreement with Hitachi, which allows it to use the Hitachi MMU circuitry
which is the basis for the Motorola/Hitachi lawsuit, or to have other
companies make the circuitry for them. Under the terms of this agreement,
HP believes that the US Government would allow Motorola to make the 68030
for Hewlett-Packard, if the US District Court of Appeals decides not to
repeal Judge Bunton's ruling.
This means that Hewlett-Packard has the best chance of maintaining a
secure supply of 68030 chips, no matter how the Motorola/Hitachi lawsuit
turns out. Because of this announcement, there have been speculation that
HP might be able to resell 68030s that it gets to companies like Apple,
but Hewlett-Packard has refused to comment on this possibility....
In its appeal, Motorola has revealed that the U.S. Patent Office
granted its request to reexamine Hitachi's '271' patent. Motorola has
found evidence that this patent (upon which Hitachi's suit against the
68030 is based) may be invalid, based on a patent issued in 1966. For now,
Motorola will try to get the US District Court of Appeals to completely
stay the lower court's 68030 ban, pending the outcome of its appeal. If
Motorola is successful in obtaining this, then Motorola will be able to
make and sell 68030 chips in the US until the US District Court in
Washington rules on Motorola's appeal.
CPU MacNews?
===========
MACINTOSH PRICE CUTS, SCULLEY INTERVIEWED, AND DEADLY MONITORS
--------------------------------------------------------------
In a recent interview, John Sculley (Chairman of Apple) recently
stated that price cuts are "more or less over for this year" for its
existing Mac Plus, SE, and Mac II line of computers. He also reaffirmed
his commitment to making a Low-end Macintosh capable of utilizing 32-bit
QuickDraw, and commented that sales were shifting from the Apple II line
(which earns small net margins for Apple) to the Macintosh, which make
higher margins. In making this point, Sculley commented that this would
allow Apple to go after the low-end of the computer marketplace more
competitively. Sculley also indicated that Apple was working on a lighter
portable Macintosh....
Several technology analysts say that the market for home/small
business computers is growing by over 70 percent a year, and many
investors have criticized Apple's lack of competitiveness in this area of
the industry. In order to remedy this, Apple has indicated that its
upcoming low-end Macintosh will be in the $1500 - $2000 price range. Also,
it may reportedly use a 16 MHZ 68020. To cover the software compatibility
concerns of the current Apple II userbase (particularly in the educational
field), several have indicated that Apple may develop an Apple II
coprocessor board for the Macintosh. However, some feel that a low-cost
Macintosh may also cut into Apple's profit margins, even though Apple has
recently performed several cost control procedures (including a layoff of
400 people) to ensure its profitability.
Apple has also not fared well from other sectors of the Macintosh
universe. In its latest issue, Macworld published an article warning that
low-frequency electromagnetic emissions from cathode ray tube (or CRT)
computer monitors may, in the long term, cause several health problems.
Many in the news media quickly interpreted this as saying that "radiation
emissions from Macintosh monitors were 'worrisome'", and Apple stock then
dropped almost a dollar a share. In contrast to its previous reactions to
Macworld's inquiries on the matter (before the article was published),
Sculley said that Apple has hired several outside experts to research the
possible existence, extent and danger of this problem....
But ponder, if you will, this question:
1) Is there any truth to public opinion that a significant amount of
"hackers" nowadays are people who use computers for malicious
purposes?
> CPU STATUS REPORT? >>>> INDUSTRY-WIDE LATE BREAKING NEWS <<<<
=================
- Mountain View, CA ADOBE INTRODUCES POSTSCRIPT LEVEL 2
-----------------
Only a few months after it released Postscript's specifications into
the Public Domain, Adobe Systems Inc. has introduced an updated version of
the language. Called Postscript Level 2, it consolidates and improves
many of Adobe's extensions to Postscript, such as forms handling, color
support, and faster graphics and text operators. In addition to making
these changes, Adobe has made its Postscript interpreter faster and more
efficient.
In order to further improve Postscript's performance, Adobe is writing
new system-level drivers to improve printing time and support for
printer-specific features like duplex printing and multiple paper trays.
These drivers will be made for the Macintosh, OS/2, and Windows 3.0.
- Osaka, Japan APPLE PORTABLE LCD SCREEN MAKER EXPANDS PRODUCTION
------------
Hosiden Electronics plans to spend over $227 million in the next three
years to boost its production of LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. It
will spend $27 million in improving a current factory, but will spend over
$200 million over the next three years to build a new factory. While it
currently makes $87 million a year in this growing, but fiercely
competitive market, it hopes to be making $324 million by the time this
new factory is built. The fortunes of this company's efforts may greatly
affect Apple, as Hosiden currently manufactures the active-matrix LCD
screens used by the Apple Portable. Interestingly, it ships 10,000 LCD
screens to Apple a month....
- Washington, DC ANTI-PIRACY ASSOCIATIONS PLAN TO MERGE
--------------
The Business Software Alliance (or BSA) has announced plans to merge
with the Software Publishers Administration, in order to better coordinate
their efforts in such things as fighting software piracy and representing
software companies more effectively in major issues.
The BSA is a group of six major software companies (all of which were
already part of the SPA) which focused on both fighting worldwide
software piracy and copyright infringement, and representing the software
industry in international trade issues. It will now perform these
functions as a part of the SPA, which represents more than 650 software
companies. The SPA will continue to focus on fighting software piracy in
North America, and (with the BSA) will fight software piracy worldwide
through educational campaigns and litigation....
- Tokyo, Japan HITACHI SHOWS MEMORY CHIP BREAKTHROUGHS
------------
Hitachi has recently announced that it has made a working prototype of
a 64-megabit memory chip. While other memory chip makers, like Fujitsu
and TI, have expressed efforts to make such a chip, Hitachi is one of the
first to successfully produce one. Running at 50 ns (nanoseconds), it has
circuit lines which are 0.3 microns wide. However, Hitachi has said that
such a chip won't be commercially available until 1995....
However, Hitachi has also started manufacturing the first DRAM chips
that can operate at 35 ns. This new series of chips, which is first
appearing in the Cheetah 433 (a 33 MHZ 80486 IBM Clone), is fast enough
for many computers using processors with clock speeds of 20 MHZ and above
to perform effectively without needing a CPU Cache or Static RAM. Before
this, the fastest commercial DRAM chips operated at 55 - 60 ns.
Hitachi and Texas Instruments have also announced plans to begin
sample shipments of 16 Megabit DRAM chips in Fall 1990, as a result of
their joint development efforts. Hitachi and Texas Instruments began
these efforts, which involved both joint development of a 16 Megabit DRAM
chip and the exchange of DRAM manufacturing expertise, in late 1988. The
announced shipment date is a year earlier than was originally expected,
and is 1 - 1 1/2 years earlier than other DRAM vendors (like IBM and
Fujitsu) have announced for their 16 megabit DRAM production....
CPU Addendum: In CPU Report Issue 71, people who perform activities such
============ as illegally breaking into private networks or systems
using computers were referred to as computer "crackers".
This name became attributed to them because some have
compared themselves to safe crackers, just as software
thieves compare themselves to pirates....
_____________________________________________________________
> ATARI APOCALYPSE STR PROBE? FOOTSHOTS, A WAY OF LIFE? WHY??
==========================
NOTICE: This is the THIRD in a series of eight (8) articles which are
designed to stimulate thought and bring to the light of day, the
underlying causes behind the very apparent decline of Atari
Computers worldwide. We will be taking a very thorough look at
every aspect of Atari's management, procedures and policies that
continually seem to send the same message to the users,
developers, contractors, dealers, distributors and prospective
users, "HOORAY FOR US AND THE HELL WITH YOU!"
ATARI'S HALL OF SHAME
=====================
by Ralph F. Mariano
Never, in the history of the computer world have so few done so much
to injure a great concept, design and product line as the ST. The
Katzenjammer have proven ,beyond a shadow of a doubt, just how much
apparent thought went into the overall decision making process. Below, we
present a table of a few of the most memorable decisions that had an
everlasting effect on all of us....
THE "MEGA" ROMS
---------------
This is a classic; all over the USA, there users utilizing only TOS
1.0, a slow, buggy OS that was 'the best available' up to the point where
users began to find out about the existence of TOS 1.2. Ironically, the
manner in which the release of TOS 1.2 was handled would have a profound
effect on the release and acceptance of the newer TOS 1.4 (that's another
story). Users, usergroups and dealers soon found that Atari was allowing
the newer TOS 1.2 to appear first in the new machines they were shipping
and were not available to the users as an upgrade either direct, or
through their dealers. This action on the part of Atari caused such an
uproar that even dealers were ready to remove the chips from the new units
to placate their 'preferred' customers who want to maintain up to date
machines. As time has shown this release of TOS 1.2 made for strained
relationships throughout the US dealer network. Actually, to bring us up
to date for a moment, the MEGA roms are STILL HAUNTING THE USA USERBASE!
All ST computers coming into the States are still arriving with TOS 1.2
installed in the from the factory!
THE CHINON DRIVE MEDIA CHANGE FIASCO
------------------------------------
Hot on the heels of the TOS 1.2 footshot, the very nasty and extremely
aggravating drive dilemma became known. Atari was made very well aware of
the media change recognition problem with a particular production run of
the now infamous Chinon AA drives being shipped in the mega/1040 units.
Oddly enough, only the DS/DD drive were effected. Instead of a general
bulletin advising users of this problem, there had to arise an uproar from
the userbase itself before Atari came forward and allowed exchanges to
take place. The next hurdle was the once again or as always, depending on
how you look at it, problem of a lack of sufficient dealers. In the end
Atari allowed users to send in the drive mechanism for exchange directly.
This was a good decision brought about by much clamoring by very unhappy
users.
THE 520STFM DS DRIVE EXPOSE
---------------------------
Not surprisingly, after Federated was acquired, the assurances flew
hot and heavy. All directed at the existing dealers in areas that had
Federated Outlet(s) nearby. These dealers were told that they would not
be placed in direct competition with the mass merchandiser/discount house
image Federated presented. Thus assured, the dealers went about their
business. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered by the wife of a friend
of one of the dealers who worked at a federated outlet that the 520STFM
units Federated was receiving had DOUBLE SIDED drives installed from the
factory in them. Meanwhile the "loyal" dealers had 520STFM units with SS
drives in inventory. The outcry was loud enough to be clearly heard on
the east coast. Atari then allowed the dealers (after many complaints and
bitter confrontations) to either discount the units or send in the SS
drives for DS drives. Still, the dealers had a serious problem, the
Federated Stores were selling the 520STF DS units at retail prices LESS
than the dealers in those areas were able to buy them wholesale from
Atari.
FEDERATED PURCHASE; THE GREATEST "NON-ISSUE" OF ALL!!
-------------------------------------------------------
There is nothing much left to be said concerning this dilly of a
decision, except perhaps, the thoughts of what wonderful things could have
come to pass had the blown bucks, (Millions ..down the tubes), been
invested in the USA's Atari ST market. Another in the long line of
successful decisions by the present leadership that have "helped" Atari
achieve its present stature in the USA's computer market.
TOS 1.4; THE LONG AWAITED "QUANTUM LEAP"
---------------------------------------
The Userbase, now very well tuned in to the 'on again, off again'
Atari attitude of support for the USA market watched, with great care, the
development and release of TOS 1.4. They had just cause to do so. From
the very beginnings of the TOS 1.4 era, we saw countless revelations
pertaining to its development and fine tuning, from requests by Al Ferrara
for bug reports placed in the public fora both here and in Europe to false
starts pertaining to its release (Chris Roberts). Additionally, there
were dealers who received pre-release chipsets (4/89) for the customers
who had purchased Moniterm Monitors. NB.. the Moniterm Monitor works with
only TOS 1.4 or greater. TOS 1.4 will long be remembered as the TOS with
an extremely checkered beginning. It certainly was the most controversy
ridden TOS up to that time. In fact, we may never see an end to the
problems arising from the mis-managed release of this version of TOS.
Still, (06/1990) they (Atari) continue to ship the new ST units with TOS
1.2 while 1.4 is on sale around the globe. WHY?
MICROSOFT WRITE & DESKSET II; MORE "NON-ISSUES"!
------------------------------------------------
Untold hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in these two programs
by Atari and where are they? Ask any any dealer to compare these two
"GEMS" to any of the competitive programs available, and you will find an
overwhelming majority of the dealers will point in any direction but
toward these two "jewels".
STE & TOS 1.6; MANAGED BY SAME PROS AS TOS 1.4?
----------------------------------------------
Almost immediately after the STe was released all over the world,
except of course the USA, it was discovered, among other problems DMA
etc..., that due to a bug in the new TOS 1.6 the O.S. would only boot in
LOW REZ. So, an auto folder patch program was released to correct this
situation and a new chip version, TOS 1.62 was destined to emerge. A
short while later the USA finally gets the good news that the STe was
awarded FCC approval. Dealers and users alike rejoice knowing they will
soon be able to enjoy selling and using the new STe machines. Toward the
end of spring 1990, there is one thousand brand spanking new STe units
ready to ship to the USA's dealers. Somebody decided to unbox one of
these 'gems' and see what it was like. Lo and behold, it won't boot in
anything but LOW REZ! As the word buzzed through Sunnyvale expressions
like; "but they had the chips and the instructions to install TOS 1.62",
could be heard. Almost at the same time, we are told that there would be
a slight delay cause by this and that Atari was going to do the right
thing and make sure TOS 1.62 would be in the machines destined for USA
marketplace. The strongest of assurances came from Atari stating that
they would "make sure the new STe units destined for the USA market would
have the newer TOS 1.62". Most all the dealers and users in the USA
breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed; "well, maybe their attitude has
changed and they are now concentrating on doing the right thing".
Ah yes here we are, a short while later.. and we find that the STe units
shipping in the USA have, at this time, the "BROKEN" TOS 1.6. Now, the
big question is will those who buy the STe with TOS 1.6 be able to obtain
the "good version" TOS 1.62 and either install it themselves or have it
installed at NO EXTRA COST? Or, are these folks going to face the old
"handling fee" routine? We find that certain 'online reps' have taken it
upon themselves to call this latest occurance a "non-issue" and one felt
it necessary to pass off a snide remark or two, the fact remains.. the
machines are out there now with an autofolder patch program, while there
is a fixed version 1.62 'in the wings'. The big question now is will the
current batch of purchasers be 'forced to buy' the fixed version or will
it be provided?
Editor Note:
STReport invites our reader to participate. If you have a memorable
"NON-ISSUE" you wish to submit by all means let us know. Please submit
the item in this format;
~ time period (spring'89)
~ the event/decision (brief description)
~ the decision maker/cause. (brief outline)
__________________________________________________________
> STR Mail Call? Letters to the Editor
=============
From: The GEnie STReport Area..
Category 26, Topic 2
Message 388 Tue Jun 19, 1990
B.PISCHKE at 21:18 EDT
ST-REPORT,
I am disgusted how you always tell YOUR side of the story. For
example, in STR624, you post messages from the Forem crossnet ... but not
the replies. You post only the ones that tell what you believe. You
always put things in the worst possible light. I am not saying that I
like what Atari is doing; don't get me wrong. I just don't like how you
report your "news". If one deleted all the "flames", the file would be
reduced to around 10K or so. You just lost a reader.
Editor:
Its important to understand that STReport relates the stories exactly how
they are received. In many cases, the submitted story carries an opinion
included or, as in most cases, the story comes by way of a phone call to
the editor and the reactions of the caller are included. Although the
reader seems to agree with the facts that Atari is far from doing the
right thing, the impression left is that of well, leave it quietly said.
Or, not said at all. Perhaps "it will go away by itself?" That is all
well and good had this year been the first year of grief, frustration and
on the part of the USA users. This is the fifth year and we agree with
the general opinion that all that's left is the shouting and if Atari
can't 'hear' that, then all is truly lost.
Sent : Jun 19, 1990 at 9:49 PM
To : STReport
From : D. MCGUIRE at The SAGE BBS!
Subj : Atari Exchange Program
Ralph, I think your article on Atari's exchange program is right on
target! The exchange program was Atari's most effective effort at
product/user support. Their attempt to steer users to the dealers for
service rather than have them use the exchange program would be all right
IF they had dealers!!! Lacking a viable dealer network, the exchange
program was a very reasonable way to go. It's a little hard to believe
that someone would send in a working 520 STFM and $115 just to get one
with a double-sided drive!!! I would think they would offer direct
exchange at the "dealer" price to users who don't have a dealer within 50
miles of them.
What does Bob Brodie have to say about this???
Editor:
Bob Brodie made mention of this entire situation at the PACE show recently
in Pittsburgh, where he stated the reason you mention above as being a
major excuse for the now extremely high rates of the exchange program.
One would think though that the working 520stf and $115.00 would more than
cover the cost of the swap to obtain the DS drive. In retrospect, how
smart Atari would have been to institute an exchange policy for just
drives in all 520SFTM that were sold within say, a 90day period at the
time the first 520stf units appeared with the DS drives in them. But no,
another magnanimous policy blunder to engender plenty of hard feelings and
scorn. The "beancounters at Atari" pull off another dilly...<sigh>
__________________________________________________________________
> CODEHEAD CONFERENCE! STR FOCUS? HOT TOPICS COVERED IN THIS ONE!!
==============================
CODEHEAD SOFTWARE CONFERENCE
WITH CHARLES F. JOHNSON
JUNE 12, 1990
<ANALOG4>
Hi, folks, and welcome to DELPHI's ST Advantage. Tonight we're
pleased to have Charles F. Johnson from CodeHead Software in a formal
Conference. Because this is a formal conference, we need to have some
rules, so let's get those out of the way first.
To keep things under control, we ask that you not "talk" until you've
been given the floor by the conference moderator (me). If you would like
to ask Charles a question, signal the moderator by typing a question mark
(?). Your name will then be put on a list, and you will be notified when
it is your turn to speak.
When you have the floor, please keep your questions and comments as
brief as is reasonable. We want to keep things moving fast so that
everyone gets a chance to participate. When you have finished speaking,
signal us by typing GA.
With that out of the way, I'd like to welcome Charles Johnson
from CodeHead Software.
Charles, is there anything you'd like to say to get things started?
.Charles>
Sure. I don't really have anything prepared, but I do want to mention
that we're about to release some neat new products that should fit right
in everyone's CodeHead collection. Our new package is going to contain
two new programs both written by Doug Harrison (of OPUS spreadsheet fame
known as MEDSTUD here on Delphi). One is called PopIt!....it's a program
that lets you "HotWire" your desk accessories. In other words, assign
each accessory a certain "hot key" and bring it up instantly in any
program by typing that key. (Yes, it also works with accs loaded inside
MultiDesk!) The other program will be called LookIt! And please believe
me when I tell you that this is the _ultimate_ file viewer/binary file
editor. We're really looking forward to getting these programs out there,
and we're shooting for a release within a month/6 weeks. That's all. :)
.Clay>
Sounds great! Thanks, Charles. Okay, GA Scott.
SCOTTJ>
Will any of your programs work on the 68030 used in the TT?
.Charles>
Scott: Yes, all of our programs will work on a 68030 processor. Some
of them will require updates, but the latest versions of everything
definitely do work. (We got some after-hours time on a TT at the WOA show
in April, and made sure of it.) :)
.Clay>
GA, David.
.David>
Since you were voted "Best Shareware Author" last year, how has the
response been ($) to LGF Software? Are you thinking of developing new
products or just supporting/enhancing the old ones?
.Charles>
David: The response to my shareware programs _has_ picked up a bit
since the award in Shareware Connection, and I'm really grateful to
everyone who's paid the registration fee for one of my products. But to
give a little perspective on the shareware market, I recently released
version 1.7 of PinHead. Over on GEnie (sorry, Clay!), there have been over
800 downloads of the program in a little over a month. (Which means that
who-knows-how-many people actually have copies.) Well, in my entire
database for all four of my shareware products I have a few more than
_half_ that many people. All in all, not really a great score for the
"honor system" I think. I know a lot of people just don't think about it,
and put it off or don't have time, etc. ....but so far, even though
shareware is picking up, things are pretty slim.
.Clay>
You're up, Dana.
.Dana>
Well, Charlie, I really don't have a question, but a comment. I'd like
to congratulate you and John for all of your products thus far. You folks
seem to come out with products that are useful for everyone, and it's
appreciated, especially in a dwindling ST-support group. I also have a
question, and Clay should probably delete it from the final draft of this
CO, but I was wondering if it's still possible to upgrade HotWire! with
MaxiFile, perhaps even while online here Sorry, Clay, it wasn't that
bad!! Upgrade, as in, take an order for it :)
.Charles>
Well....the upgrade offer to HotWire Plus, for owners of HotWire 1.3
and earlier has been expired for several months now, unfortunately. At
this time, we aren't doing online upgrades, because of the expense and
time involved.
.Dana>
I meant to be able to order it while online, rather than an actual
updated file in the downloads.
.Charles>
Dana: Sure, actually you can indeed order MaxiFile online if you wish.
Although, to be honest, it might be cheaper to just call us at (213)
386-5735.
.Clay>
Okay, Walter. You're up.
.Walter>
Charles: I'm not up to date--sorry...
.Charles>
That's OK, Walter. I'm not that up-to-date either. :)
.Walter>
...but, re: the question about the 68010. What about your software with
archaic equipment like the ATR8000?
.Charles>
The ATR8000? Wow! We're talking 8-bit stuff here, right?
.Walter>
Yes.
.Charles>
Well, all the CodeHead products are for the ST. I did own an ATR8000
at one time, but those days have past. Sadly. :)
.Clay>
Charles wrote some marvelous programs for the 8-bit--a long time ago!
.Charles>
I loved my 8-bit Atari. <sob> Excuse me while I get maudlin. :)
.Clay>
GA, Bill.
.Bill>
Charles, I purchased G+PLUS here while back and I can't seem to locate
any support in the way of printer drivers. I have a Demo version of a
manual maker that uses GDOS and it works great but I'm having problems
with the printer and the graphics handling.
.Charles>
What kind of printer do you need a driver for, Bill?
.Bill>
SEARS SR1000 and a SR5000.
.Charles>
Hmmm. Those are two printers I've never heard of. I'd suggest
contacting Migraph and/or Neocept. Both of those companies market GDOS
printer drivers and they may be able to help you.
.Bill>
The SR 1000 works great its the 5000 I can't seem to get to work
properly.
.Clay>
Okay, Scott.
SCOTTJ>
What do you think about the general state of the ST in the USA? Do you
think that if Atari ran an ad campaign for the ST like they have for the
Lynx, it would revive the ST in the USA?
.Charles>
Wow, a loaded question, eh? Like most people, I guess, I'm not very
happy with the way Atari has handled the US market. Just about every one
of their promises to advertise the ST has failed to materialize, while
developers and users move on to other machines. Atari has to perform some
emergency surgery _soon_ or the US market is going to be a dead issue for
them. Call me a die-hard, but I do think it's still possible for them to
come back. However (and that's a big "however"), it's going to take a
real commitment, in terms of advertising dollars and user support. The
next six months are going to be very revealing.
SCOTTJ>
Are you moving on too,Charles? Maybe to the European market?
.Charles>
Scott: I'd be less than honest if I said that I wasn't looking at other
platforms for my software right now.
.Clay>
GA, Dana.
.Dana>
Since Scott opened up the door real wide, regarding CodeHead's support
of the US market, does CodeHead have any user group support, possibly
through donations of new products and/or advertising in local group
newsletters? I've talked with John in the past, and he's been more than
cooperative in regards to verbal help with product info on various
products for newsletter articles, reviews, etc. Can CodeHead _afford_ to
support, however minutely, groups with products or advertising?
.Charles>
Yes, we've advertised in user group newsletters in the past and we are
interested in talking to _any_ user group about any kind of support we can
give. If you have a specific proposal, just call us and we'll talk about
it.
.Dana>
I will do that, personally--thanks.
.Clay>
GA, David.
.David>
Was the enormously fast Auto Organizer written in GFA BASIC, or are all
CodeHead products 100% assembly? When will FatBack be available?
.Charles>
Yes, Auto Organizer was written in GFA Basic, with some assembly
modules. That's the only product of ours (to date) that was not written
in pure assembly language. Fatback is still under development (it's
actually John's project) I know it's been a while since we first promised
it, but believe it or not, we're still planning to release it. It all
depends on when John can get time to work on it. (It's tough being a
two-man operation sometimes.)
.Clay>
For those who don't know, Charles, what is FatBack?
.Charles>
Fatback is our hard disk backup program. It has a somewhat different
approach than other backup systems; it does an "image" backup that still
lets you extract individual files from the backup if you need to.
Unfortunately, it's also our only "vaporware" product at this point....a
series of setbacks and time conflicts have prevented us from releasing it
yet.
.Clay>
Thanks, Charles. GA, Bill.
.Bill>
Concerning your hands-on experience with the TT. In your opinion, was
it better than the ST or merely faster?
.Charles>
The TT is a nice machine, with several important improvements on the ST
model. The VME bus alone holds immense promise for expandability. I
liked it. I wish it was in the stores right now.
.Clay>
You're up, Drona.
.Drona>
Charles, first I want to say, for the _benefit_ of any newcomers, that
Codehead software products are absolutely the greatest!!! PopIt! sounds
like another absolute must-have revolutionary first! Does the exclamation
point go with the name? LookIt! sounds cool too, but I'm not sure I
understand what kinds of uses it might have. Would it allow viewing a text
file anytime in the middle of a program?
.Charles>
LookIt! is a stand-alone program that not only lets you view text
files, but also edit them, mark and save/delete blocks, and much much
more. It's one of the nicest binary file editors in existence, too.
(You can finally throw away Disk Doctor.) :) In addition to its
functionality, it has a really nifty new approach to the user interface,
that mimics the Macintosh in some ways. Doug Harrison's written a new
object-drawing library that is quite unique.
.Clay>
GA, David.
.David>
Have you ever considered writing a reference guide for aspiring ST
assembly programmers? I really enjoyed your Assembly Line articles from
ST-Log.
.Charles>
That's a good idea, David, and yes, I have considered it but as always,
it's very hard to find time to devote to a large project like that.
.Clay>
GA, Scott.
SCOTTJ>
Charles, why haven't you been on Delphi lately? You seem to be on GEnie
all the time. Delphi's cheaper, you know.
.Charles>
Well....he he....you see, I had this big argument with Clay and...
(just kidding, folks!). Actually, it's just been impossible to keep up on
all the online services. In the future, I'm going to try to get up here a
lot more often, so you may be seeing more of me than you want.
:)
.Clay>
GA, Bill.
.Bill>
Charles, I just wanted to mention that we have a dealer here in
Memphis, and he carries all of your products including shareware {disk for
disk}. I wish all ST'ers could be as fortunate to have as good access as
we do here.
.Charles>
So do I, Bill! Unfortunately, I've been hearing rumors (uh, "rumors")
that one of the few remaining ST dealers here in Los Angeles is going to
be closing soon. <sigh>
.Clay>
Okay, Gordie.
.Gordie>
I know this may be difficult to narrow down, but...
.Clay>
I think Gordie got knocked off line. While we wait for him...GA,
David.
.David>
Will PopIt! be able to "hot-key" DAs that aren't in a slot or MultiDesk
while within a program without memory fragmentation?
.Charles>
PopIt! lets you call up DAs that are already loaded; it doesn't load
them at the time you press the "hot key." The ST's memory-allocation
scheme is a very hard taskmaster and fragmentation is just about
impossible to avoid in situations like that.
.Clay>
Gordie, you want to try again? <GRIN>
.Gordie>
Yeah, where was I when the 520 went south? Oh,...If you could change
one thing about Atari US, what would it be?
.Charles>
Whew!
.Gordie>
B-)
.Charles>
Are you trying to get me in trouble? :) Actually, I'd change a lot
more than one thing if I could, but it ain't my company, and at the
present time, I don't think I'll have the capital to buy them out any
time soon. I suppose the main thing I would change if I could is their
attitude towards advertising. They can have the greatest computer in the
world, but it doesn't mean nothin' if nobody knows about it. They _have_
to start advertising soon, if the US market is important to them at all.
.Clay>
RE: Advertising. Do you think that maybe it's too late for large-scale
advertising to be effective? Where will people go to buy the equipment?
There are almost no dealers left.
.Charles>
Yep, I know, Clay. Like I said, emergency surgery is called for. I'm
not (quite) giving up on Atari yet, but they'd better DO something, and
quick.
.Clay>
There have been rumors that Atari is in even worse shape than we
suspect. I sure hope they're wrong. GA Gordie.
.Gordie>
I'm not so sure it's a matter of advertising, as marketing overall.
Atari doesn't know who to try to sell to. The ST/TT isn't another C64,
and they don't really have the marketing background for niche marketing
beyond the MIDI market. Although the president of Atari US should
understand niche marketing a little better. He used to sell Koala Springs
soft drinks, hardly a major player in the soft drink market.
.Charles>
Good points, Gordie. I've heard some things lately that lead me to
think that they may be beginning to understand just how bad off the US
market really is. As I said, the next six months are going to be very
revealing.
.Clay>
What have you heard? Can you share it with us?
.Charles>
Well, one thing I find encouraging is that Elie Whatsisname :) is
coming from Atari France to help out with US marketing. This man was
almost single-handedly responsible for bringing Atari France up from
$0.00 to $50 mil a year. All reports are that he's very sharp, and that
he won't have to answer to the Tramiels. Again....time will tell.
.Clay>
That sounds hopeful. But--and it's a big but--the Tramiels are famous
for hiring experts and then firing them two weeks later. Let's all cross
our fingers on this one!
.Charles>
Very true, Clay.
.Clay>
GA, Drona.
.Drona>
Charles, do you think that the strength of the European ST market
specifically for MIDI and musicians, is such that you would recommend a
musician to buy an ST for MIDI? And would you mind sharing with us what
sequencer software you use?
.Charles>
There are some terrific MIDI applications for the ST, and I wouldn't
have any pangs of conscience recommending the ST as a MIDI machine.
However, it's also true that there are some terrific MIDI applications for
other computers too; in fact, I recently had occasion to use the VISION
sequencer on a Mac II, and I was quite blown away. VERY nice program. On
the ST, I'm still using Hybrid Arts SMPTE-Track sequencer; it's always
done everything I need a sequencer to do.
.Clay>
For all who may not know it, Charles is also a professional musician.
.Drona>
I have an ST, of course, but I've been advising friends that with the
Euro MIDI software and ST use is so strong that even if things die out for
Atari in the US that MIDI ST support will remain from Europe. Is this
valid, Charles?
.Charles>
I dunno, Drona. I would suppose the European MIDI developers will keep
going as long as there's one person out there using an ST for music.
.Clay>
You're up, Bill.
.Bill>
What kind of memory requirements do PopIt! and LookIt! have? And how do
SW developers choose their test base {if any}.
.Charles>
PopIt! uses only about 20K; it's a desk accessory. LookIt! uses more
memory, but it's not really an important issue, since it's not a resident
program. I'm not sure what you mean by "test base." Can you elaborate?
.Bill>
Do you do all of the debugging yourself or do you enlist the aid of
others?
.Charles>
Actually, we have 10 (or maybe 11) beta testers as our programs have
grown in scope (and size) it's become impossible to do all testing
ourselves.....so we've tried to enlist a representative group of ST
(ab)users to test our stuff to destruction.
.Bill>
That's the word! {beta} I was wondering because of the different models
of machines nowadays.
.Clay>
We've got one question left. Maybe it ought to be the last. What do
you think, Charles?
.Charles>
Yeah....I've gotta be toddling along pretty soon! Fire when you see
the whites of my eyes.
.Clay>
Okay, Scott, you get to close things up.
SCOTTJ>
Charles , do you know anything about this Midi-Tasking vs Multi-Tasking
controversy? Will Atari's program work will all ST software or will just
multitask music (MIDI) software? Also do you know when Atari will release
it?
.Charles>
I haven't actually seen Atari's MIDI-tasking software yet but I HAVE
spoken to several MIDI developers about it. Apparently, the software is
going to be of most use to MIDI programs that are specifically written to
use it. From what I've been told, there are very few "normal" ST
applications that will be compatible with MIDI-tasking "out of the box."
But if it does become popular for MIDI, we may see some non-MIDI software
updated to take advantage of it. (I know I'd be very interested in a
workable multitasking standard myself.)
.Clay>
Okay, I 'd like to thank Charles for taking the time to visit with us
here, and thank all of you for attending. And remember that the best way
to support the ST is to support its developers. So buy a lot of software
..especially from CodeHead! <GRIN>
.Charles>
Get down, Clay! <grin>
.Clay>
This CO is officially over!
__________________________________________________________________
> VANCOUVER ATARI SHOW STR Spotlight? !EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORT!
===================================
-----> EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORT <-----
VANCOUVER ATARI SHOW
by Oscar Steele
It seems that everywhere you look, controversy and bad feelings
surround Atari shows. Most recently, Rich Tsukiji, of ST World, has
attempted to put on a show that would cause a conflict with the Glendale
Atarifest's schedule. Last year, the same thing happened, and both shows
were canceled. Many users and developers still have vivid memories of
this year's PACE show because of accusations of mass piracy by show goers.
Even though the show was well advertised and hyped, it failed to surpass
500 attendees (compared to other Atari shows of the past which had six to
eight thousand users). The stability of yesteryear's Atari user group
shows have been shattered.
With this in mind I didn't know exactly to expect at the Vancouver
Atari Show. It wasn't touted as a major show, as PACE was, but word of it
did spread in local user group newsletters and on GEnie, where I first
heard about it. Most descriptions were vague, mentioning the location
(Vancouver), date (June 16th), and that the TT would be shown. I wasn't
even aware of the exact location until the day before the show. Since
Vancouver is relatively close to me, my curiosity was sparked.
I went to a local Atari dealership, Cave Creek Computers, and was
lucky enough to find an ad for the show in PSAN, a local user group
newsletter. Later on that day, I went to a user group meeting for
STarbase. Derek Mihocka, of Branch Always Software, stopped by on his way
to Vancouver. The user group was having a swap meet that night, and he
fit right in selling copies of Quick ST. Derek told me that he was
planning to test the TT with a version of Quick ST modified specially for
the TT.
Although my plan was to be at the show in the morning, a flat tire
caused me to roll in at 3:30. I missed the crowd, but was told that there
were quite a bit of users earlier. The vendors included a few dealers
selling various items and several developers. Derek was selling version
2.1 of Quick ST. Cherry Fonts' Todd Johnson occupied the booth next to
Derek's and was selling fonts for Calamus. And N.I. Software, which
produces an educational product to teach French, was close to the TT.
As you may have guessed, the TT occupied most of the people most of
the time. The Atari reps said they hoped that it would be released to the
general public in August (which is a distinct possibility since the STe
was released close to schedule). Programs that adhere rigidly to the ST's
environment work fine on the TT (see Chart II for more information about
the TT). Ron Grant, who was demoing the TT, showed off some Migraph
products, which ran quickly and smoothly. Having some free time, Derek
tested his modified Quick ST on the TT. He was able to get it to work
with noticeable speed increases (see Chart I at the end of this article).
The STacy was also on display, but it seemed to get very little
attention compared to the TT. The Lynx and a Mega 4 with Megafile 40
received some casual spectators. I talked to the Atari rep to confirm a
rumor that Atari US and Atari Canada would be merging into Atari North
America. He replied that the marketing departments would be merged into
Atari North America. This may be an indicator that we will actually start
to see the ST/TT pushed in terms of advertising.
So, even though the show wasn't pumped, as PACE was, it did very well
for the amount of advertising that was placed. It was a good solid show
that made 289 users happy. In the future, the coordinators would have no
problem in creating a large scale show like PACE was intended to be. The
geographic location, the user group support, and other factors are on
their side. But for now, it's good to see that the image and quality of
Atari shows is improving, one show at a time.
Chart I
Derek's results of Quick ST running on the TT:
w/o Quick ST
no cache w/ cache
TOS 1.0 STe TT TOS 1.0 STe TT
Text 140 126 103 205 184 151
String 142 136 101 196 187 140
Scroll 259 148 101 398 228 155
GEM 219 125 101 289 164 133
Zoom 12.64 seconds 10.9 sec.
w/ Quick ST
no cache w/ cache
TOS 1.0 STe TT TOS 1.0 STe TT
Text 514 462 380 715 642 528
String 3022 2893 2154 4633 4436 3302
Scroll 350 201 136 380 218 148
GEM 684 390 315 875 498 403
Zoom 4.86 seconds 3.83 seconds
no cache w/ cache
CPU Memory 158 97 361 221
CPU Register 203 101 409 203
CPU Divide 452 101 509 114
CPU Shifts 1574 102 1734 112
Derek said that the TT's results were within a couple of seconds of the
one he saw earlier at the Toronto TT unveiling.
Chart II
Highlights of a spec sheet on the TT from Atari Canada:
* 3 New Graphics modes:
320 x 480 with 256 colors from a palette of 4096
640 x 480 with 16 colors from a palette of 4096
1280 x 960 high resolution monochrome
* Stereo 8 bit PCM sound (STe compatible)
* Motorola MC68030 running at 16 MHz
* Motorola MC68881 Floating Point Co-Processor
Socketed, so that it can be optionally upgraded to a MC68882
* 2 Megabytes RAM, expandable to 26
* SCSI and ACSI with DMA
* Internal hard disk (30 MB)
* SCC LAN port with DMA
* 4 serial ports
2 low-speed asynchronous (up to 19.2 K baud) and 2 high-speed
asynchronous/SDLC ports
* Mega standards: MIDI, Parallel, Detachable keyboard (supports 3 mouse
buttons)
* Internal A24/D16 VME card slot
* Real Time Clock with NVRAM (50 bytes of non-volatile RAM)
* 1.44 MB floppy drive
Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx TT030
CPU 68030 68030 68030
FPU Yes Yes Yes
RAM (MB) 2 to 17 1 to 32 1 to 26
Burst Mode Yes No Yes
ROM 512K 256K 512K
Graphics 1280 x 480 Optional 1280 x 960
Interlaced Non-interlaced
32 colors 256 colors
Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo
Expansion Proprietary NuBus VME
Hard Disk DMA Non-DMA DMA
Floppy Disk Proprietary Proprietary PC Compatible
Network No Yes Yes, DMA
Serial 1 RS232 2 RS422 4 RS232
Parallel Yes No Yes
MIDI No No Yes
Cartridge No No Yes
COMPANIES MENTIONED:
Cave Creek Computers
8541 Greenwood Ave.
N. Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 783-0933
Branch Always Software
Box 2624, Station B
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 6N2
(519) 747/0386
Cherry Fonts
Unit #4 - 2250 Tyner St.
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Canada V3C 2Z1
Atari Canada
90 Gough Rd. Units 1 & 2
Markham, Ont., Canada
(416) 479-1266
________________________________________________________________
> ATARI'S FUTURE STR OnLine? Clear Skies and Calm Seas???
=========================
The following is a sampling of a number of networks depicting the mood of
the users in general.
About the future of the STe and its abilities.....
Ctsy CompUserve;
21-Jun-90 22:27:15
Sb: #21048-#STE
Fm: BOB DOLSON 71036,213
To: J.R. McCullough 70003,5521 (X)
I just received my new STe today! It's pretty neat! MUCH improved
sound but the resolutions and number of colors in low and medium res are
the same as before. You do have a 4096 color palette to choose from
though. I have a question about the SIMM modules on the STe though. Hope
someone out there can answer it..
The question is: What kind of SIMMs are used in the STe?? I have 2-1
meg. by 9 SIMMs here but was told that the STe needs to have 1 by 8s....
Does it make a difference??? Also, I note that seemingly the only way to
install the upgraded SIMM modules is to take that sticker off the bottom
of the case that covers up one of the screw holes, and thus void the (90
day) warranty! Well, at least it IS easier to upgrade (I think).
Also, the STe's DMA chip will not work properly with an Atari SH-204
or 205 hard drive. This is due to the Atari host adapter I am told. It
will seem to work ok, but will get write errors if you use it for a short
while.. I hope someone will be able to answer these questions... Also I
hope an ICD Advantage Plus host adapter will work with the STe ok....
..ED; Have no fears, the STe works just fine with all the ICD host
Adapters its a shame that the older Atari 204 & 205 HDs have problems...
<sigh> ...typical, so very typical.
22-Jun-90 03:40:43
Sb: #21228-STE
Fm: Bob Retelle 71550,3312
To: BOB DOLSON 71036,213
The STe that I saw the innards of was upgraded by adding 1Meg x 8
SIMMs ("Macintosh" SIMMs). I think someone said that the 1Meg x 9 SIMMs
would also fit (and work), but I haven't seen that myself...
Yes, you assumed correctly that opening your STe to upgrade the RAM
will void your warranty. Atari Corp did NOT go to SIMM modules to make
things easier for the end user (although that is one unintended benefit).
SIMMs can be cheaper and easier for them to install, and take up far less
PC board space, allowing higher density boards to be designed.
If end user upgradability had been their intention, an access "door"
would have been designed into the machine. As it is, you have to break
the warranty seal, open the case, take off the main RF shielding, remove
the disk drive, take out the power supply and then pull the 256K SIMMs and
replace them with 1Meg SIMMs... then reverse the process and reassemble
all the pieces and parts.
It's far easier than any other memory upgrade, and much more reliable
than any of the kludges needed to upgrade earlier STs, but it's not quite
the walk in a park that everyone had hoped it would be...
BobR
ctsy GEnie
Category 14, Topic 40
Message 121 Thu Jun 21, 1990
M.KENNEDY3 at 18:44 EDT
As far as I can see...there IS NO POSSIBLE WAY that Atari could offer a
free upgrade to TOS 1.62 to the people in the US...I have heard that this
bug exists in ALL STEs throughout the world... If Atari gave upgrade
ROMS to the US...they would need to give them to everyone...it just won't
happen.
I don't know what the fuss is...I have had an STe for 5 months and this
little bug isn't a big bother. If you have a mono monitor you rarely
encounter it! (how many of you with BOTH monitors actually use medium
res!) The error seems to be in the way the STe writes the desktop INF
file...I could swear that sometimes when I boot with certain disks
(without the patch) boot correctly to medium. I am assuming that these
disks have INF files that were made on my old 1040 or the 520. No one has
ever specified what the actual bug is. Is it the file or the way it reads
it or writes it or what ( or or or )? Perhaps we should stop calling the
US STEs 'defective'...a term like that tends to damage the machines
reputation, and that's the LAST thing we need.
BOB-BRODIE [Atari Corp.] posts;
Mark,
Check the demo library online here. I have uploaded some really nice demos
of the STE capabilities online. Be warned though, the files are large...
Kennedy,
Thanks. I needed that. :)
Mine works great, too.
Lloyd,
Still waiting for an address to mail the cartridge I owe ya! UPS will not
deliver to a club PO box.
STACE [Mark] posts;
Kennedy,
I totally agree that the med-res boot bug is relatively insignificant.
However, seems a crying shame that it wasn't fixed and released in ROM
given the extended period Atari had between the time the bug was
discovered and the actual release of the US machines.
Funny, I seem to remember somebody assuring us that the bug WOULD be
fixed in the U.S. released machines.
Mark
C.F.JOHNSON posts;
Mark,
Yes, I remember hearing assurances that those bugs would be fixed in the
STe Roms before the US release, too. In fact, wasn't one of the reasons
given for the lateness of the STe's release that someone had made a
mistake in Taiwan and the STe's had the old buggy ROMs installed? Sheesh.
- Charles
Editor note:
While the actual bug in TOS 1.6 may be "insignificant", the principle
of the entire matter is "extremely significant". The shipping of the STe
units in the States with the 'broken TOS 1.60' clearly demonstrates the
attitude Atari has toward this market. Only a short time ago the userbase
in the USA was vociferously assured that the STe units destined for the
USA market would indeed have the 'fixed TOS1.62' installed. After all,
"Atari wanted to start off on the right foot".
Like the stripes of a tiger, the past performance and attitude of the
executives at Atari are difficult to change, the machines have been
shipped throughout the USA with the 'broken TOS 1.60. Oh well, so much
for the new beginning. Three to five months from now the dealers and
distributors will have their hands full with folks wanting the better TOS
version 1.62. And they, also going by Atari's past performance, will have
to PAY for it.
About the future prospect of reliable service and accessability.....
STACE [Mark] posts;
Dan and Nathan,
Let's say that you just bought a brand new Ford Taurus. You quickly
discover that you LOVE the car. You feel it is probably one of the finest
made autos you have ever driven. You feel that you got great value for
the price you paid and are very happy with your purchase. Wouldn't you be
somewhat discouraged if you discovered a couple years later that there
weren't any more dealers left to repair your vehicle?
Wouldn't you begin to worry about getting replacement parts?
Wouldn't you be upset if it turned out it was not any particular
dealer's fault why all the dealerships disappeared, but rather, it was the
fault of Ford for not supplying product, support, advertising, etc...etc?
Wouldn't you start thinking that maybe you should buy a different
company's product next time?
Yes...until my ST breaks, burns in a house fire, or is stolen it will
still be a VERY useful and powerful computer. In my opinion, one of the
BEST computers you can buy!! Easy to use. Fun to use. Fun to show off!
However, given Atari's current track record with keeping promises and
meeting dealer's needs I find it HIGHLY unlikely that I will purchase
another Atari computer in the future.
We use to have 10 places to purchase ST computers here in San Diego (4
Federateds and 5 full service dealers and 1 minor dealer) and now we have
basically 1 full service dealer left. A couple of the other dealers still
carry some software but they are not ordering anything new...just selling
out on what they have. These former Atari dealers all sing the same
tune... they hated dealing with Atari Corp!
And, lastly, to anyone thinking that we "complainers" should just dry
up and blow away I leave you with this.... A MAJOR part of Atari's
success (however small) was partly born out of Atari enlisting the User
Groups and end Users as its "sales force". It was repeatedly stated by
more than one Atari executive that WE should spread the word about Atari
computers.
I did just that!
Atari, in my opinion, has stepped on my neck.
At any rate...by being one of Atari's "foot soldiers" I believe I have
already paid for the right to complain!
Mark
S.COLLER [Steve] posts;
Can Atari make a comeback in the U.S.? After having pronounced Atari
dead of self-inflicted wounds a couple of weeks ago, I would now like to
offer some suggestions on what Atari needs to do to resurrect itself in
the U.S. market place.
To begin, Atari management needs to set some priorities.
The first two being:
(1) Product Availability
(2) Dealer Relations.
Product Availability:
--------------------
Management needs to pull out whatever stops are necessary to ensure an
adequate supply of products for the dealers. If Atari does not have
products to sell to the dealers then dealers do not have products to sell
to the consumers hence no one in the chain is going to make any money.
And Atari management will be managing a phantom corporation.
Dealer Relations:
----------------
At this point in time Atari should not be attempting to sign up any
new dealers. Instead they need to hire Dealer Service Representatives
whose sole purpose will be to contact, in person, every authorized dealer
in the country. It will be the job of these Reps to find out what
problems the dealer is having/has had with Atari and to solve these
problems. To do this Atari management must be fully committed to solving
these dealer concerns. Talk is cheap and the dealer network is tired of
hearing just talk. They will only believe that these Reps can do what
they say they can when the dealers see concrete results. One thing that
the dealers are going to want to see from the Reps is PRODUCT. They do
not want to here that the next shipment will arrive in a month. They want
to see systems on their shelves. Once Atari has proved to its existing
dealers that it really means business, then Atari will be a position to
attract new dealerships. If the effort is made to sign on new dealers
without addressing the concerns of the present dealers any marketing plan
will have the net result of spitting into the wind. Working parallel to
the Dealer Reps should be a similar program that is devoted to the
developers. Atari has a lot of fences to mend here, too.
And again, you must address the concerns of those who are still on
board as developers before you have a prayer of attracting new ones. The
proposed 520ST Advantage Program should not be done through the mass
market channel. Rather it should be done through the existing dealer
network. Why? Because if this program is turned over to the local
dealers they will see that Atari really is serious about addressing their
concerns. Also, the local dealers are the ones that are qualified to
answer questions that the Advantage Buyer will have about the system. The
local dealer is also going to be the Authorized Service Center when the
Advantage Buyer has problems with the Hardware.
If the local dealers are part of the Advantage Program they will also
be more motivated to promote the ST system. Putting the Advantage Package
in the mass market channel MAY put more systems in the market faster, but
by doing so Atari will win a battle but lose the war. What few dealers
are left will abandon ship overnight. The local dealers need the leverage
in the marketplace that the Advantage Program will give them. There has
been a reported change in the management structure at Atari Computers.
Now we will just have to see if they are serious about the U.S. market, or
still attempting to spit in the wind.
Steve Coller President,
Central Missouri Atari Group
Columbia, MO
GEnie: S.Coller
CIS: 73637,1235
_____________________________________________________________
> Stock Market ~ STReport? The Band Marches On....
=======================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Michael Arthur
Concept by Glenn Gorman
The price of Atari stock went up 1/8 of a point on Monday, and
stayed the same on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it went down 1/4 of a point,
and went down 1/8 of a point on Thursday. On Friday, the price of Atari
stock stayed the same. Finishing up the week at 5 1/8 points, the price
of Atari Stock is down 1/4 of a point since the last report.
Apple Stock was up 1 1/4 points from Friday, June 08, 1990.
Commodore Stock was down 3/8 of a point from 6/08/90.
IBM Stock was up 1 5/8 points from 6/08/90.
Stock Report for Week of 6/11/90 to 6/15/90
_________________________________________________________________________
STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|
-----|------------|-------------|-------------|------------|-------------|
Atari|5 1/2 + 1/8|5 1/2 ---- |5 1/4 - 1/4|5 1/8 - 1/8|5 1/8 ----|
| | | | | 60,500 Sls |
-----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------|
CBM |8 1/2 + 1/8|8 3/8 - 1/8|8 1/8 - 1/4|7 7/8 - 1/4| 8 + 1/8|
| | | | | 49,600 Sls |
-----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------|
Apple| 39 + 3/4|40 1/2 +1 1/2|39 3/4 - 3/4|39 3/4 ----|39 1/2 -1/4|
| | | | |1,287,000 Sls|
-----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------|
IBM |119 7/8 |120 1/4 +5/8|121 3/8 |120 7/8 -1/2|120 3/8 - 1/2|
| +1 1/8| | +1 1/4| |2,111,900 Sls|
-----'-------------------------------------------------------------------'
'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day.
'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation.
'----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day.
___________________________________________________________
> NE ATARIFEST'90 STR SHOW NEWS?
=============================
NEW ENGLAND ATARIFEST '90
=========================
OCTOBER 27, 1990 9:00am - 4:00pm
University of Massachusetts
Boston Harbor Campus
Boston, Ma. 02125
By Kevin Champagne
I was involved with the aborted attempt at planning an AtariFest in
1988 with The Boston Computer Society's Atari User Group; a lot of work by
a lot of people came to nothing. We are determined that this time will be
different.
I would have been the first person to tell anyone who would listen
that the time had past to hold an AtariFest in the New England area. The
stumbling blocks were just too great; the dealer base had shrunk
drastically, the unavailability of product was sure to have caused a
shrinkage of the user base, and developers were dropping out of the market
in droves. Yet there were positives. This may actually be "The Year of
Atari", as some of the long announced products were finally actually being
shipped. If there is to be a U.S. presence for Atari at all, it almost has
to happen this year. What better way to help foster this presence but to
hold an AtariFest and do our part to bolster the local Atari market.
Initially, the AtariFest was actually just a User Group get together
to host a visit by Bob Brodie, Atari's Manager of User Group Support. Mr.
Brodie was invited to the Boston area by Norman Boucher of the South Shore
Atari Group and subsequently by Jerry Feldman of the BCS/Atari group. Bob
accepted the invitation, but was unable to fit Boston into his schedule
before September or October. It was finally decided that Bob would visit
on the last weekend in October.
A few days after Brodie confirmed his Boston visit, Harry Steele, the
system operator of the BCS Atari BBS (617 396-4607), visited this author
at his home. We were working on the May issue of the BCS/Atari
Newsletter, as well as planning some strategy for attracting former
members back to the user group. Evidently Harry had been doing some
private thinking on the subject, as out of the blue he presented the
outlines of a plan for a complete AtariFest, to be held in conjunction
with Bob's October visit. Harry even suggested a viable meeting place,
UMass Boston. Being a born pessimist, I brought up every possible
problem and roadblock against the plan that I could imagine, but Harry was
not just persistent, he had also done his homework, and countered every
argument that I presented against the AtariFest with a viable reason to
hold it. After an hour or so of this, I finally began to come around to
Harry's way of thinking. He had convinced me that the idea was workable,
now it was up to us to get a group of volunteers together and convince
them as well.
Harry and I agreed to invite four people each to join an 'executive
committee' of sorts. This committee would form the nucleus of an even
larger group of volunteers as time passed. For now, with time being an
issue, the smaller the group, the quicker things would get done. One of
the problems I originally foresaw was an inability to attract vendors or
dealers without a professional organization backing us. Harry suggested,
and I agreed, that the only way that we could solve this problem was to
get the support of The Boston Computer Society. With the BCS's
sponsorship, we would be assured of the financial and administrative
underpinnings necessary for an undertaking of this sort.
With this in mind, Harry invited Jerry Feldman, the director of the
BCS/ST User Group, Bill Niemi, Treasurer of the BCS/ST User Group, and Don
Burgess, Co-Director of the BCS's 8-Bit Atari Group to join the executive
committee. I invited Dana Jacobson and Norman Boucher of the South Shore
Atari Group, and Ed George, a long time local Atari activist. Ed declined
due to time constraints, but Norman and Dana joined the group and agreed
to attend the first ExeComm meeting, which was held at the BCS Resource
Center conference room on April 30th. Also in attendance at this meeting
was Jeff Lomika, President of the NaVAUS group (and proprietor of TiBit
Software Engineering, publishers of the Good Back-Up Utility), and John
Koumoutseas, proprietor of Syntronics Computer Center, who would be
representing the local dealers. These nine people presently form the
Executive Committee of the New England AtariFest '90. Also attending the
first meeting was Mary Ryan, a member of the BCS's Member Services
Committee, the group that would determine whether the BCS would agree to
support the 'Fest.
That first meeting saw Harry and I prepared with draft copies of a
letter to Vendors, dealers and User Groups inviting them to attend the
'Fest. Much was accomplished; Dana came to the meeting with a draft press
release that was approved by the membership. Norman came prepared with
three different draft electronic press releases, one of which was approved
for immediate release. Many possible problem areas were raised and
addressed, and all left the meeting with the feeling that this thing could
really happen.
In the weeks following the meeting, the press release was sent to all
ST related periodicals, the electronic press release has been uploaded to
BBS's and electronic services all over the country, and the final form of
the vendor, dealer, and user group letters was completed.
On May 21st, the BCS Member Services Committee met and approved our
budget and officially agreed to sponsor the New England AtariFest '90!
The invitations to all known developers and vendors nationwide have been
mailed, the floor plan and layout of the display area has been detailed,
and we have already received confirmations from a number of attendees.
On May 30th, the second ExeComm meeting was held at the BCS Resource
Center conference room. In attendance were Dana Jacobson, myself, Jeff
Lomika, Jerry Feldman, and Norman Boucher. Harry Steele had the audacity
to have to attend his son's graduation, and thus informed us well in
advance that he would be unable to attend. Also missing the meeting were
John Koumoutseas, Bill Niemi, and Don Burgess. Don has since resigned
from the committee, as his wife is expecting a baby, and he is unable to
give the time required for participation.
Many of the smaller issues that will need to be addressed as the
summer progresses were raised at the second meeting. Norman was
'volunteered' to assume responsibility for all security issues at the
show, and Dana Jacobson assumed the mantle of publisher and editor of the
AtariFest show program.
As of June 17, the following attendees have confirmed their
participation in the 'Fest:
Atari Corporation Fast Technology
Gadgets by Small Gribnif Software
TidBit Software Engineering The Bit Bucket
Computer Zone Syntronics Computer Center
SSAG VAST
NaVAUS BCS/Atari Group
We expect to issue an update with considerably larger participation in
the coming weeks.
We have set up a New England AtariFest '90 hotline. This line has the
latest confirmed participation figures, as well as any other pertinent
'Fest info. The number is (617) 527-4952.
If anyone would like additional information regarding the AtariFest,
or would like a vendor packet, please let me know. I can be reached by
modem at the BCS/Atari BBS at (617) 396-4607, or drop a note in the mail
to my attention to: New England AtariFest '90, C/O The Boston Computer
Society, One Center Plaza, Boston, MA 02108. I look forward to hearing
from you.
____________________________________________________________
> WAACE '90 STR SHOW NEWS? "THE PREMIER EAST COAST EVENT"
=======================
WAACE ATARIFEST '90
===================
The Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts will hold WAACE
AtariFest 1990 on October 6 and 7 1990. This event will be the premier
East Coast event for people who are interested in software and hardware
for Atari computers. The show will be staged at the Sheraton Reston Hotel
in Reston, VA. Show hours will be from 10 am to 7 pm on both days. In
addition to the shopping bargains available from over thirty vendors
there will be a full round of demonstrations, tutorials, and seminars. A
banquet on Saturday evening will feature a special speaker on Atari
matters and Current Notes Magazine's "Author of the Year" award. Special
mixers will cap off the evening's festivities. Approximately 3000
visitors from all over the USA, Canada, and other foreign countries
attended the 1989 edition of the show.
The Sheraton Reston Hotel is a spacious, attractive facility located
in a park like setting near Washington, DC. The hotel is offering a
special room rate of $59 per night plus tax to Fest goers who reserve by
August 6th. The hotel room rate includes 2-day passes to the show for
room occupants. Call 703-620-9000 for reservations. Be sure to mention
AtariFest '90.
Admission charges:
$5.00 for one day
$7.00 for a 2-day pass.
Discount ticket purchases are available for usergroups.
Children under 12 will be admitted free.
HOTEL INFORMATION
The following information was taken from the Sheraton Reston Hotel
informational brochure.
The Sheraton Reston Hotel has 302 beautifully appointed guest rooms,
including 10 executive parlor suites (excellent for hospitality purposes).
The conference center and banquet rooms are all located on the ground
floor surrounding a large courtyard and outdoor swimming pool. Each
multi-purpose room is equipped with individual sound facilities,
individual temperature control and conference lighting systems, as well as
the capability for closed circuit television. A full line of audio-visual
equipment is available.
In addition, it provides complimentary shuttle van service to and from
Washington Dulles International Airport 24 hours a day , and has free
parking for over 900 cars.
At the end of a tiring day, enjoy a nice swim in the outdoor pool or a
fast game of tennis, volleyball, or basketball. Golf privileges are
available across the street adjacent to the Sheraton Reston Hotel.
Guests have access to a twin cinema, a full-service bank, and many small
shops and restaurants.
Scheduled and direct commercial limousine service to and from
Washington National Airport.
LOCATION:
--------
Situated in the heart of the Washington-Dulles corridor in Fairfax
County, Virginia, the Sheraton Reston Hotel is central to business,
cultural and tourist attractions.
Immediately adjacent to the Washington-Dulles Toll Road and 5 minutes
to Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, the Sheraton is conveniently
located 20 minutes from downtown Washington via the Washington-Dulles Toll
Road or I-66.
Only minutes from Washington Dulles International Airport and the
corporate headquarters of major industries and businesses, the Sheraton
Reston Hotel is in the hub of Fairfax County's rapidly growing Hi-Tech
space-business community.
DINING & COCKTAILS:
------------------
Dine in the elegant Derby Restaurant and select from an extensive
American menu. For a more casual atmosphere, enjoy the Derby Lounge with
entertainment nightly.
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
-----------------
Reservations can be made at the Sheraton Reston Hotel by calling voice
(703), 620- 9000 or by FAX (703), 860-1594. Remember to ask for the
AtariFest rates; $59.00 for a single/double or $66.00 with breakfast
buffet, and $66.00 for a triple or quad.
BANQUET INFORMATION
The 1990 WAACE AtariFest Banquet will be held at the Sheraton Reston
Hotel at 8:00 pm, Saturday, 6 October 1990. The dinner will be a
non-smoking event this year. Ample smoking areas will be provided near
the dinner area for smoking breaks. The Banquet will be proceeded by a
social hour held in the hotel. Dinner will be served at 8:00 pm. The
dinner will be followed by the Current Notes Author of the Year Awards
presentation and then the featured banquet speaker. This years banquet
speaker will come to us from Codehead Software.
The banquet will be a sit down dinner this year and a ticket will
cost $23.50. Please make checks payable to WAACE.
The menu is as follows:
Sliced Top Sirloin Merlot OR Chicken Europa
Salad with house dressing
Vegetable (to be determined)
Starch (to be determined)
Beverage (choice of ice tea or coffee)
The Chicken Europa consists of chicken breast served in a mushroom and
brandy sauce. Please specify with your ticket request your choice of
entree, beef or chicken.
Please send all ticket requests to the WAACE Banquet Coordinator,
Johnna Ogden. Johnna's address is,
Johnna Ogden
WAACE Banquet Coordinator
213 North Lincoln Ave
Sterling, VA 22170.
Tickets requests are being accepted now. Tickets will be mailed out
starting in August. If you have any questions please call Johnna at (703),
450-3992.
ATARIFEST '90 COMMITMENT
The following organizations have provided written indication of their
desire for vendor space:
Atari Corp D. A. Brumleve + Debonair Software
Joppa Computers Toad Services
Alpha Systems Fast Technology
Double Click GEnie
Branch Always Cal Com
Wizworks Talon Technology
Goldleaf
These account for about 22 of the 60 booths. There is still lots of
room for everyone! Remember, 1 July is the deadline for submitting
deposits in order to receive discount pricing!
Several of the organizations listed as vendors have also indicated their
desire to present seminars.
SEMINARS
Seminars will be presented at the WAACE AtariFest on both 6 and 7
October 1990 from 1100 am to 6:00 pm. The seminars will be concern a
variety of topics of interest to the Atari User community. If you would
like to participate in the Seminar series then contact the WAACE AtariFest
Programs Coordinator, Charles Smeton at (301), 465-8628 or Genie:
C.S.SMETON, CIS:73047,2565.
Speaker Organization
Ralph Mariano ST Report Online Magazine
David Troy TOAD Computers
J. Wrotniak Debonair Software
Nathan Potechin ISD Marketing, Inc
D.A. Brumleve Educational Software
Paul Lee Double Click Software
Keith Gerdes
Mike Vederman
Bob Brodie Atari Corporation USA
TBA Codehead Software
TBA Gribnif
DIRECTIONS TO WAACE ATARIFEST 1990
FROM NORTH & SOUTH
------------------
Take the Beltway I-495 Exit 12 to Washington Dulles Airport. Then take
the Washington Dulles Tool Road (Rt. 267) Exit. Follow Washington Dulles
Toll Road to the Reston Ave, Exit 3. Turn left at the traffic light onto
Reston Ave. Left again at the 2nd traffic light onto Sunrise Valley Dr.
Follow Sunrise Valley Dr. to the Sheraton Reston on the left.
FROM EAST
---------
From DC, take I-66 West. Follow the exit signs to Washington Dulles
Airport. Then take the Washington Dulles Toll Road (RT.267). Follow
Washington Dulles Toll Road to the Reston Ave, Exit 3. Turn left at the
traffic light onto Reston Ave. Left again at the 2nd traffic light onto
Sunrise Valley Dr. Follow Sunrise Valley Dr. to the Sheraton Reston on
the left.
FROM WEST
---------
Take Interstate 66 to Vienna Exit 16, Rt. 123 North. Continue 1/2 mile
to Rt. 674 (Hunter Mill Road) left on Rt. 674, 4.5 miles to entrance to
Reston. Continue straight to Sheraton Reston Hotel on right.
FROM DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
---------------------------------
Call the Sheraton Reston Hotel, (703), 620-9000 and ask for the free
hotel shuttle. If you have a rental car then take the Washington Dulles
Toll Road and go to Exit 3, Reston Ave. Turn right at the traffic light
onto Reston Ave. Left again at the 2nd traffic light onto Sunrise Valley
Dr. Follow Sunrise Valley Dr. to the Sheraton Reston on the left.
__________________________________________________________
> STReport CONFIDENTIAL? Sayin' it like it is.....
=====================
- Sunnyvale, CA. PORTFOLIO TO BE BUNDLED WITH PARALLEL I-FACE
-------------
Interesting for Portfolio fans, maybe, is a new promotion upcoming
that will include the parallel interface. This device allows the user to
interface the Portfolio with MS-DOS units only. At least now, the Atari
exec who is busy promoting the ST computer lines will be able to hook up
his Portfolio to the "386" on HIS desk.....
- New York City, NY ATARI INTROS EDUCATION PC NETWORK!
-----------------
As has been Atari's standard operating procedure, they have introduced
an educational networking system in Montreal, Canada. "We're serious
about computers in education. We're making an aggressive move towards
having ATARI computers in schools all across Canada", explains G. Earle
general manager of Atari Canada. The network, called ATARI GemNet, has
been approved for Ontario schools by the Ministry of Education. The
network interfaces with the XT, AT/286, 386sx and 386 machines.
- Philadelphia, PA. NATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS STOCKING ATARI PRODUCTS
----------------
Remember when? Well here we go again folks, verified by ALMO
Distributing and Southern Distributors, are stocking Atari products
including the STe, SC1224 Color Monitors, SM124 Monochrome Monitors and
Megafile 30 units. About three years ago, these types of distribution
networks were frowned upon, well it looks like they may just be the
"salvation" of Atari! Its great to see that someone at Atari is finally
waking up and smellingthe coffee.
__________________________________________________________________
> Hard Disks STR InfoFile? Affordable Mass Storage....
=======================
NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!!
============================
ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC.
P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
Est. 1985
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
_____________________________________
All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
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WE HAVE A COMPLETE LINE OF 3.5 LOW PROFILE HARD DRIVES
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* SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
- Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
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65mb SQG09 $1239.00 85mb SQG96 $1299.00
LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE
Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
(over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
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ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR
LARGER units are available - (special order only)
NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED!
- Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets -
Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info
ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED
-* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
(A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)
QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
_________________________________________
DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
please, call for details
Personal and Company Checks are accepted.
ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!
CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319
Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service
9am - 8pm EDT
Tues thru Sat
***********************************************************************
> A "Quotable Quote"?
=================
"COMMON SENSE IS AN ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, NEVER TAUGHT...
.....ONLY LEARNED FROM EXPERIENCE"
... Franklin
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STReport? "Your Independent News Source" June 22, 1990
16/32bit Magazine copyright = 1990 No.6.25
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Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors, staff, STReport? CPU/STR? or ST Report? . Permission to
reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint
must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's
name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
any way without prior written permission. The contents, at the time of
publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The editors,
contributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/misuse
of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
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