🚀 go-pugleaf

In the hope that I can get a straight answer, or *something* 
approaching it...

I assume, from Erik Freed's postings ("our office just received 6
1040's") that on the west coast, there seems to be little
trouble in getting 1040's.  I've been waiting since early February
(when the machine was announced) with my name on my dealer's list.  I
read all about the arrival of the first shipment (yes, yes, by way of
the Phillipines, I know all about that...), but still, to this day,
neither my dealer, Data Control Systems of Cayce, SC, nor his "authorized
distributor", Allison-Erwin Co. of Charlotte, NC, have even SEEN a 1040,
much less sold one.  Yes, the orders are stacking up, but all we get is
"two more weeks... two more weeks... two more weeks... two more weeks".

Why the relative abundance of machines out west?  And *NOTHING* out here?
My dealer's experiencing a marked slowdown of 520ST orders because
people are holding out for 1040's and he can't get them!  He can't
even get any TOS ROMs to upgrade the machines he has sold!  It's
possible that the distributor is using many of the ROM sets for
his own field upgrades, but my dealer has even sent a direct
order to Atari Corp. for ROMs.  It's been 3 weeks since he did that,
and still nothing.  Meanwhile, a customer of his called Atari to
gripe and they sent him a set of ROMs pronto...

I'm hearing rumors that Atari is trying to get dealers to order direct
from them now and that to speed the process, they're *deliberately
starving* the distributors out here who are crying for machines.  That
plan doesn't sit too well with my dealer, especially the "$3000
minimum order" that Atari enforces for direct orders...
 
I'm hoping that there isn't any truth to rumors like that.  But when
you've been waiting a few months, you begin to think "Well, maybe 
they *are* true, judging from current events..."

What do you say?  I'd sure appreciate some answers, Neil.

Steve Wingard