🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3_800_842_fidonet2b2fb332@Kralizec.fido.zeta.org.au> michael.smith@f842.n800.z3.fido.zeta.org.au (michael smith) writes:
>Original to: ekrimen@wet.UUCP
>In a message of <06 Dec 92 01:28:30>, ekrimen@wet.UUCP (3:713/602) writes:
>
> e> The ST Book is being redesigned and the ST Pad (STylus) was scrapped.  I
> e> guess Atari didn't want to turn out like Momenta. :^)
>
>I read a depressing article in the Oz weekly PC rag (PC week of all things
>8) about "pad" style computers - everyone that they surveyed agreed that
>they were the wave of the future, but _NOBODY_ was planning on buying any.
>(we're talking major companies, consultancies, etc here)
>
>Whether atari found the same thing, or the tramiels just love this keyboard
>(ick 8) ... I dunno.

I think the problem is that no one really has any specific applications for
the pad computers, so there's no way to market it.  Momenta's marketing seemed
to be, "Here's one of the first pad computers.  Buy it."  It's not like a Mac
which you buy for DTP, or an Amiga which you buy for video, or an ST you buy
for MIDI, or a PC which you buy for everything else.  The pads needed a specific
application and there really wasn't one.  On top of that, the technology really
wasn't there to support it; the machines have to be smaller, lighter, and
the pen recognition, if that's what they want to use for the interface, must
be better.  From what I've read, Atari's recognition software was pretty good,
but Atari doesn't seem to be, at this point at least, the company to push a
major change in computing, such as pen/pad computing.  It would take a lot
of advertising and marketing, similar to what Apple did with the Mac, and we
all know how Atari likes to advertise. :^)  Especially without any kind of
certainty that it would be worthwhile.

Pen computing is/was just a shot in the dark.  It'll most likely be back later,
as Arnold would say perhaps, "Ah'll be bahck." :^)


-- 
   |||    Ed Krimen
   |||    ekrimen@wet.uucp
  / | \   E.KRIMEN (GEnie)