From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls)
Subject: Re: Amiga 4000/Atari Falcon
Organization: University of Mississippi, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 18:29:07 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.160753.1545@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys) writes:
>In a previous article, kentd@FtCollins.NCR.com (Kent Dalton) says:
>>>>>>> On 27 Jul 92 18:39:52 GMT, zxmgn01@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (Philipp Knirsch) said:
>>Philipp> In <Todd_Petit.0k97@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US> Todd_Petit@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Todd Petit) writes:
>>
>>>I can't believe that anyone would think that the Falcon is in any way a
>>>threat to the Mac or the Amiga for that matter. If you think C= has
>>>marketing problems, take a good hard look at Atari! The Falcon is not
>>>unique enough to garner any interest in the general market--no one will pay
>>>any attention to it.
>
>Well, supposely the Falcon has better graphics, better sound, most likely
>better multi-tasking, most likely faster, MIDI support, LAN support,
>expandability, etc...

Than what?  The Falcon is as real as the A4000, AmigaStation, A800, Ranger,
and other rumors.  The latest rumored specs have the Falcon in a 1040ST type
case with 16MHz 030.  Wow!  Sure sounds a lot faster and more expandable 
than an A3000!  

>No, I wouldn't say Amiga has anything to worry about.

The Amiga has plenty to worry about, but the worst enemy is Commodore, 
not a revamped ST named after a bird.

>>>From: todd_petit@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US
>>
>>Philipp> Thats your opinion.... But not mine...
>>
>>It sounds like none of the Falcon supporters are aware that the Falcon
>>is going to be an unexpandable 68030 box with good gfx and a DSP and
>>hacked up "TOS" for an OS, NOT the 68040 "dream box" whose specs were
>>misreported after the CeBIT show (this information is gleaned from
>>developer's who have advance machines and post tidbits to
>>comp.sys.atari.st). It sounds much more like a slayer
>>game box than anything else.
>
>There was no 68040 "dream box" that Atari users were looking forward to.
>In case you do not remember, there were SEVERAL Commodore "dream machines"
>that were made up by Commodore users as a joke.

The difference is that Atari has announced and even shown prototypes of
lots of nice machines through the years.  Commodore has either learned
their lesson or they have not been allowed to develop anything new.  
Please note that I said allowed, not able, as I believe that the hardware
guys at C= are great, they just work for a bunch of idiots.

>There is a rumor of a Falcon 68040 but there is NO specs.  The same
>rumors that were reported about the Falcon at Cebit are for the most
>part still around today.  The only difference is that Atari Corp.
>Atari Explorer Online is confirming these rumors.

Hey, there are also rumors of the Amiga A5000 with an 060 chip, but
there are no specs.  :-)

Considering the shape Atari is in, it is no doubt that they are 
confirming the rumors.  They have to if they hope to have any buyers
for their birds and cats.

>>I'm betting the computer user community's reaction to the Falcon will
>>be identical to Wayne Campbell's reaction to the "Suck&Cut" hair cutting
>>system: "Well, it certainly does suck."
>
>I bet that MANY Commodore Amiga users get sick of waiting for Commodore
>to release some new computers that were probably not slated for release
>until early 1994.

Actually many of us are sick of waiting for machines that were slated for
release in the fall of 1991.  :-)

>I doubt you will see any new Amiga until the second half of 1993.

If I could find a dealer around here I'd bet that I could see at least
one new Amiga today.

>I bet most of these users will not go IBM compatible since they don't
>like compatibles.  Instead, they will go Falcon 030 IF ATARI PROVES
>they have changed.  They have to prove it by better marketing and support
>and less costly mistakes.

Ha!  You should do stand up!

>>And it will be late. IMHO, Atari should forget about being a computer
>>company and concentrate on home video gaming systems and portable
>>data-management products. They seem to do an excellent job on those.
>>The Lynx and Portfolio are fine products!
>
>They never invtented those.  They purchased this technology.

What does that say about Atari?

>I think if Atari has a chance to take back some market from Amiga and Mac,
>why not?  It seems as if Atari is at least 6 months ahead of Commodore--
>maybe not Apple.

If the Amiga didn't have a real OS but instead had a program-launcher like
MS-DOS or TOS, it would be fairly easy to cram new hardware in and write
a few patches to make it work.  Atari may have started the rumors six
months ago, but the release dates of new machines from both companies
appear to be awfully close.  As for being ahead of one another, the Amiga
is about six years ahead of the Atari in terms of the OS.

>>Let's face it, the personal computer war is over. The PC compatible
>>nuked the entire planet, the Mac survived in a mouse shaped bomb
>>shelter, the Amiga just barely survived and has what is probably a
>>terminal case of radiation poisoning, and Atari just up and died. (I love
>>silly analogies. :^) The Falcon could be the greatest box ever made and
>>it still probably wouldn't sell well, anyway (same but to a lesser
>>degree with the A4000)
>
>Hasn't anyone ever told you that it isn't over until it's over?

Over and over and over again.

>Small personal computers like Atari and Commodore still have niche
>markets left.  The company that sees this will continue to be a strong
>player in the personal computer industry for at least two-three years.

What is going to happen 2-3 years from now that will change?  The only
thing that I would guess is that the nation will suffer so much at the
hands of the Democrats that the industry will completely die.  Check
out the wonderful state of Arkansas to see what Bill Clinton will do to
this country.

Skip Sauls
skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu