From: dmb@case.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Falcon030 -- Truth not Fiction
Date: 29 Dec 1992 07:48:49 GMT
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
NNTP-Posting-Host: case.ai.mit.edu

In article <1hideaINNnke@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys) writes:
>In a previous article, kosmatoo@JSP.UMontreal.CA (Kosmatos Odisseas) says:
>>In article <1h6kq4INNsuc@life.ai.mit.edu> (David Baggett) writes:
>>>In article <1h5ppkINNp78@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>  (Len Stys) writes:
>>
>>>>What do you think is the greatest advantage that the Falcon030
>>>>has?
>>>
>>>A collection of rabid fans who will buy whatever comes out of Atari,
>>>regardless of its quality.
>>
>>You must be one frustrated man to say that. If that were true, why did most
>>people ignore the TT? I'm sure that if the next computer Atari makes is not
>>pretty good, people wouldn't buy it either. Although I think the Falcon is
>>fine, and the 'rabid fans' will make it do some pretty neat things.
>
>I was kind of disappointed by that statement as well.
>
>Was it rabies that caused you to right Game Workbench for the Atari platform
>in the first place Dave?

No, it was a combination of good and bad luck.  The key event was 
ownership of an ST in 1985.  This was good (as far as GW goes) in
that I would never have met Neil without owning one, and without Neil
there would have been no GW for any computer.  (Besides that Neil
is an inspiring individual all around.)

It was bad in that it should have been a PC clone and not an ST.  GW
should have been written for the PC; had it been it would have been out
months and months ago, and we might actually have gotten some return on
our invested time (whether finanically or just in terms of the
satisfaction of seeing people use it).

If I could do it all over again, I'd be tempted to replace that
ST back in 1985 with a PC.  (The money wasn't there to buy a PC
system until much later.)  The only reason I wouldn't is that
it would cost me a friend.

Had I never met Neil, I'd probably wish I'd never even SEEN an ST.

>Really, Atari has ONE very GOOD advantage over other personal computer
>companies such as Apple.  This is customer loyalty.  And unfortunately,
>the company doesn't appreciate this advantage.

Yes, loyalty bordering on insanity.  I'm getting flames from BOTH
extremes now (in email) -- the ones who say, "you idiot, why are you
bothering to try to convert these weenies," and the ones who say, "how
dare you tell me my computer's not great!"  The irony is almost killing
me.

>>>"Yesterday's hardware at today's prices."
>>
>>Yes, there have been computers as powerful as the Falcon with all the features
>>it has, for years now, at sub $1000 prices. NOT!

Did I say that?  No, I just said (and I still think it's a better
slogan for Atari now), "Yesterday's hardware at today's prices."

>>
>>>>Do you have a Falcon030 computer already?
>>>
>>>No, but I pretend to use one on TV.  :)
>>
>>I thought you were given a Falcon by Atari when you went on your visit there...
>>Just kiding.

Well I WAS given a Falcon when I was there (OK, it was mailed later),
but NEIL has that one now, OK?   Jeez.

>No, really, at the end of Dave's article, he wrote that Bill Rehbock
>gave him a Falcon030 because he felt sorry for them.

Ah-ah, I didn't say that was necessarily true; the fact is that I 
have NO IDEA why Bill gave us a Falcon.  That was only a theory
of mine.

>I'm wondering what happened to this Falcon?  Someone else told me that
>Dave didn't get it because it was only Rev.2 or something like that and
>he was suppose to get a Rev.3 machine.

Look, Neil has had the silly thing since, what, August?  

Dave Baggett
--
dmb@ai.mit.edu           MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory                  
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