🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <921@ark.cs.vu.nl> Patrick@ark.cs.vu.nl (Patrick van Kleef) writes:
>I just returned from a loooong and very tiring visit to the
>Hannover Messe.
>a car back... Ah, never again.
. . .
>ANyway, I've got some nice news. The entire Tramiel-clan was there
>and I spoke to Leonard who gave me some good information.
>
>- There "definitely _is_ going to be an upgrade for existing
>  ST-owners to new ROM's and new Blitter. Memory upgrades
>  are likely too, but that would make make a replacement
>  of the power supply necessary (I think). Leonard told
>  me Atari's still thinking about what to do with the
>  current buggy ROM's. If the blitter's installed, new
>  ROM's come with it. But what to do with people that don't
>  want the blitter? Up to marketing, Leonard said.
		     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Ok, I don't think this can go without some sort of an observation.  Let me
first say that I am very very glad to see Messrs. Harris and Leavens spending
so much time on the net, and am very grateful for the answers I have seen.  I
am very happy to see this development.

However, I think it would be very worthwhile to comment on the above report,
in particular the part of the sentence I marked.  I think this would be worth-
while, because the last set of flames against Atari policies and attitudes
really got kind of off the track:  people started talking as though the
complaints were something like "I want you to provide a cheap upgrade from
a 1040ST to one of the newer models".  If, indeed, that is all people had been
clamouring for, then I might almost think the younger Tramiel's "Ferrari"
gaffe would have been warranted.

I think it would be very worthwhile for people at Atari to be aware that the
problem is NOT availability of cheap upgrades (I think we all realize that
upgrade paths for closed-architecture machines are limited, as has been
re-iterated time and again by Atari apologists on the net lately);  NOR is it
casting of blame for the bugs in GEM/GEMDOS, which are as we all know DRI's
fault.

No, rather, the problem is the attitude represented by the sentence I quoted:
if Patrick Van Kleef is correctly reporting Mr. Tramiel's remarks, then we are
to infer from this that THERE IS ACTUALLY A POSSIBILITY THAT PEOPLE WHO DO NOT
WANT BLITTERS MAY NOT GET DEBUGGED ROMS FOR THEIR 1040S!

If it is to turn out that the above remark -- that the decision to provide
ROMs to non-blitter customers will be left up to the whims of "marketing" --
is in fact not correct, then great.

However, I think I should make it QUITE clear that it is to my mind unthinkable
that Atari would consider for even a MOMENT that customers are not 100%
ENTITLED to upgrades of ROMs that contain bugs!  Even your average PC-clone
mail-order manufacturer sends out debugged BIOS ROMs on a regular basis!  (I
know of one that gives out new [free] ROMs every six months!)  Admittedly, we
are talking about a little more than a BIOS, and we are talking about a total
rewrite.  But I do NOT think it is acceptable that Atari consider not providing
rewritten ROMs to ALL users, REGARDLESS, and for only a nominal fee.

THIS is the matter we should be focusing on, and this, I believe, is the proper
source of anger in the community:  not whether or not we can turn our 1040s
into Mega-STs, or even trade them in for them (I never expected that);  nor
whether Atari is competing adequately with the Amiga 2000;  nor whether Atari
is to incur any "blame" for bugs in the OS.  I think that if there is any
reason to turn away from Atari, and to avoid recommending Atari machines to
friends (as recent posters have threatened), it is this.  I, personally, had
every intention of getting a blitter upgrade;  indeed, of selling my 1040 and
getting a new Mega ST.  So I would have no trouble getting the new ROMs.  But
I would SERIOUSLY think twice if I thought Atari were pulling this kind of
thing on other people.  I simply don't want to have anything to do with a
manufacturer that would consider not distributing debugged ROMs to ALL users,
WHATEVER their Marketing department thought.

There is more to choosing a computer than looking at the hardware in it -- the
attitudes of the company count;  they counted against Apple for me, and they
are swiftly counting against Atari.
grunau@husc4.UUCP

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