🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1024@atari.UUCP> good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good) writes:
>In article <54@avsd.UUCP>, govett@avsd.UUCP (David Govett) writes:
>> 
>> At the Hannover Fair last week, one of the Flying Tramiel Brothers said
>> that, since iratA gets 60% of its (16-bit ?) revenues from Deutschland,
>> the US market would suck hind tit, not to put too fine a point on it.
>> 
>> The grafitti is on the wall.  Time to dump the boat anchor while you
>> can still get a decent price for it.  Don't count on Two-Tongue Jack
>> to ever support the ST in the US.  All he'll ever provide is crumbs to 
>> keep the peasants quiet. 
>
>I was at Hannover last week, and would contest the above most strongly.
>Jack Tramiel's public statement at the Press Conference was almost
>entirely in regard to DRAM issues. And he made a very strong point,
>which received immediate applause, that "Atari will not increase prices
>on account of the inflated DRAM costs. If that means we only make $55M
>this year instead of $57M, so be it." I paraphrase considerably, but
> [....more deleted...]
>My personal opinion is that Mr. Govett is way out-of-line in his 
>interpretation of Mr. ?. Tramiel's remarks (where "?" can only be
>Sam or Jack, as the other two were not in Hannover). Maybe he would be
>so kind as to state the exact words used, and the originator, as I don't
>recall any Atari executive using the words quoted.
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Roy J. Good
>Product Development, Atari Corporation
>

Mr. Good,

I won't defend Mr. Govett's rather free interpretation of Sam
Tramiel's statement, but according to the March 21, 1988 Electronic
Engineering Times, on page 14, last paragraph of the article titled
"Atari puts Transputer, Unix to work", Sam Tramiel is quoted as
saying (at the Hanover, West Germany CeBIT show),

"Given the strong demand and opportunity in Europe, we're holding the
machines back in the U.S."

That, to me, is an unequivocal statement confirming the rumors on the
net that ST's are 1) hard to get in the US and 2) not being well
supported here.  I understand that Atari has a finite maufacturing
capacity, and that if it is near 100% utilization then there is no
point in promoting more sales, since an increase in demand couldn't be
met.  On the other hand, is it fair to all your domestic customers and
developers to ignore them because the machine is hot somewhere else?

To me, this is a very short-sighted and selfish approach, which is
destined to hurt Atari in the long run.  If and when the currency
situation reverses itself (again, as it undoubtedly will), or the
next fad machine surfaces in Europe and sales fall off, Atari will
find that the market it was "holding back" has long since stopped
waiting for crumbs and gone elsewhere to find a supplier worthy of
its loyalty.

Personally, Mr. Good, I am getting tired of statements like yours that
Atari is doing this and that, program x and y are being set up to help
developers, etc.  Promises, like vaporware, aren't worth the paper
they're printed on.  We want action, and based on Mr. Tramiel's
statement, it seems unlikely we're going to get it.  I would be most
surprised, and pleased, to be SHOWN otherwise, but please, don't
simply tell me it isn't so; your company's president belies your
words.




Greg Wageman               
Schlumberger Technologies  UUCP: ...!decwrl!spar!snjsn1!blfca1!greg
1601 Technology Drive      ARPA: greg@blfca1.com@spar.slb.com
San Jose, CA 95110         BIX:  gwage
(408) 437-5198             CIS:  74016,352

"Nest deeply, and carry a big stack."
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