From: Les_Jenkins@lppl.mi.org (Les Jenkins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: CBM is a game machine company
Date: 7 Apr 92 21:41:11 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Les's Place BBS

In a message dated Mon  6 Apr 92 02:00, Drollin@seq.uncwil.edu (david A. Ro
wrote:

 DAR> You overlook one big point. With all the gloom and doom posting,
 DAR> CBM continues to market new products. You also miss another point.

But what they are marketing isn't anything truely new.

 DAR> Unlike Apple and IBM, CBM makes their products with the ability to
 DAR> upgrade from one computer sytem to the next. One does not have to
 DAR> give up his software to move up a grade. The higher grade computers
 DAR> have the ability to emulate their predecessors, so there is no loss
 DAR> there.

Big whoop. Despite the fact that incompatabilities can crop up from one IBM
clone to the next I don't see that hurting their sales or slowing their
rate of R&D.

 DAR> I admit that I am waiting for CBM to shock the market with something
 DAR> to make the competition rush to the drawing board, but I see nothing
 DAR> wrong with broadening the user base by offering low-end computers.

I've been waiting for the past 5 years. (Given the first 2 years should
have developed SOMETHING.)

[...stuff deleted...]

 DAR> Give Commodore a chance, but also give them good advice, and never
 DAR> fail to let them know when they blunder. Our peace of mind that
 DAR> we've made a good investment rests on the strength of Commodore as a
 DAR> company.

7 Years is more than a chance. It's multiple chances. CBM had a big
headstart in 1985 and then proceeded to blow it in just about every manner
they could. First they didn't bother to really market the machine until
around 2 years later and then they sat back and watched as everyone else
plays catchup. Granted no one else has gotten the mixture to work as well
as it does on the Amiga, but it's close enough that it's only a matter of
time before they get it right. Meanwhile CBM said nothing as Microsoft
layed claim to the title of First Multi-Media computer and First Truely
Multitasking OS among other more outrageous claims. 

Hell the money they saved alone in not advertising should have been pumped
into R&D if nothing else.

 DAR> Bad customer press can hurt a company much more than can poor sales,
 DAR> if you see where I'm coming from.

If the shoe fits...

 DAR> I have friends who use Mac and Ibm compats. They are awed by what
 DAR> the Amiga can do. I never express to them my displeasure with how
 DAR> Commodore runs things. I never hear Mac or IBM people complain about
 DAR> their computers. Basically, I don't think they know any better.

I know people awed by the machine as well, but they're not idiots either. 7
years and we're still stuck with the same chipset isn't something they find
encouraging. Several of them went and bought clones because "Commodore
doesn't appear to know what it's doing or that it has a good thing in it's
hands."

 DAR> This is what counts.

You're right. Lots of people oohing and awing over the Amiga, not sales,
thats what counts. I'm sure Dave Haynie will be able to keep lots of food
on the table with just a couple oohs from awed IBM users. If they're so
impressed why aren't they buying? Sounds like their humoring you...

-- Via DLG Pro v0.991

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