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From: rehrauer@apollo.HP.COM (Steve Rehrauer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Loyal Atarians?!?
Message-ID: <44ed9575.71d0@apollo.HP.COM>
Date: 9 Aug 89 16:01:00 GMT
References: <30438@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: rehrauer@apollo.COM (Steve Rehrauer)
Organization: Apollo Computer, Chelmsford, MA
Lines: 123

In article <30438@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> mitchell@janus.berkeley.edu (Evan Mitchell) writes:
>I have a question for all you loyal Atarians... "Why?"  Why are you so loyal
>to Atari?  I'm curious.  I used to own a couple of 8-bits, and I was very
>happy with them.  However, time marches on, and so does technology, and Atari
>does NOT seem to be at the forefront of consumer technology.  Vaporware does
>NOT count.  In any event, here in Berkeley, Winner's Circle sells both Amigas
>and ST's.  Vincent, the ST guy, is so inthusiastic about the machine that he
>could almost sell me one.
>
>What inspires such loyalty?

Speaking only for myself, "I don't know, but whatever it was, it's gone".
(Warning: A very long diatribe follows.)

When Atari rolled out their original 8-bit line, I bought an 800.  I was
quite happy with it, and still believe that in many ways it was the most
advanced peecee, software- and hardware-wise, of its time for under $2,000
(this includes the Apple II, Radio Shack stuff, Commodore Pets, Exidy
Sorcerer (anyone else remember this one?), and soon-to-be released and
much-overhyped IBM PC and Commodore 64).

Nevertheless, Atari owners could be recognized by their instinctive
bristle at the question, "Oh, you own a computer?  What kind?"  We were
somewhat plaintively to be heard saying things like, "Well, yah, it
doesn't have slots, but..." and "Well, it does play great games, but
it also..."  Amiga owners that I know remind me very much of we owners
of Atari 8-bitters in that respect.  (Though Amigans can now counter the
stupid "But does it have slots?" question, the defensive "But can yours
multitask?" seems to be a universally-used shot, and indicates a similar
deeply-rooted inferiority complex. :)

Of such stuff is the nature of fanatic loyalty made.  You picked your
"lowly" Atari over the haut couture Apple and pin-striped behemoth PC
and "cheap imitator" C64 because you KNEW it was better technically.
It not only was, it HAD to be, because otherwise you really were duped
into buying the "not best" machine for the money, right?  That little
rationalization is still just as valid with computers today, not to
mention cars, stereo equipment, or any expensive item.

So when Atari rolled out their ST line, the company had much good karma
in my books.  I very much liked the Apple Macintosh after playing with
several, but (again), couldn't afford it.  I saw an ST demo'd, was duly
impressed, and bought an ST.  For less money than the 800 alone cost
($800 vs about $900), I had a half-Meg 68000 machine with disk drive and
superb monochrome monitor.  By comparison with my 800, it was a vast
improvement in many ways.  I believe that, like the 800 was in its time
and price-range, the ST was the best buy.  (To fend-off indignant Amigans,
at the time I bought my ST, the Amiga was a rumor named the "Amiga Lorraine",
I believe.  Had I waited another 6 months I may have made a different
purchase.  Had I waited another year or two I certainly would've.)

So why aren't I inspired anymore?  Part of it is what I hope is a bit
of maturation on my part; the realization that, hey, practically any
computer has something good to recommend it, and if it does the tasks
you do, then be happy.  There's better ways to expend energy than in
silly flame-wars over "whose toy is better".

Much of it is also the perception that Atari unwrapped a really nice
little box in the 520ST back in 1985, then...  And then...  And then...
Well, there's the 1040ST; a repackaged 520 with twice the memory and
less cables hanging out the back.  There's the MEGA-2 and MEGA-4; a
repackaged 1040ST with more memory and one Atari-specific slot.

But wait!  Don't forget about the "under $1,000 laser printer!"  Well,
gee, guess it costs just a bit more.  And it really doesn't work so well
unless you have a 2Meg machine.  And I can't really use it on anything
but an ST.  Hmmm.

But wait!  Don't forget the video blitter chip!  Hey, that'll make
all your programs fly!  Well, gee, guess it really won't do us 520ST
owners any good.  And it really doesn't seem to speed up most things
very much at all.  Hmmm.

Whoa nelly, but wait for the 68020-based "TT" machine!  Now THAT will
be slick!  Well, it's 1986 now...  Well, it's 1987 now...  Oh, it's
1988 and now it'll be a 68030-based box, guess that's good news...
Well, it's 1989 now...  Hmmm.

Oops, forgot about the wonderfully sexy Transputer-based box, what
they now call the "ATW", I guess.  Hey, that's actually shipping!  Oh,
in Europe...  To developers...  For about what a NeXT or MAC IIx
costs...  Not much software for it yet either (not much for a NeXT
either, but at least that's a sexier box :)...  Hmmm.

But hey, at least there's lots of great software available!  Even some
of the original 8-bit "greats" are still around, like O.S.S. with their
very nice PERSONAL PASCAL, and Batteries Included with their wonderful
DEGAS Elite and Thunder! packages.  Well, they were here just a minute
ago...  Hmmm.

Well, at least TOS 1.4 will have most of the OS bugs, well some of the
bugs, well a few of the bugs fixed.  Maybe I can spend my nickels on
that...   Hmmm.

Frankly, what there is about the Atari product these days that inspires
"fanatic loyalty" is completely beyond me.  The ST is still a decent
little box, that runs a selection of nice/fun/useful software.  But
fanatic loyalty??  Nope.

The slogan "power without the price" is a sad & tattered white lie; cheap
PC clones offer comparable bang for less buck, and a wider variety of
software to boot (no pun intended).  Very little of anything substantive
has come out of Atari in the past 2-3 years, so one hasn't even the
option, as I did in 1985, of buying something on the cutting edge of
price / performance / techno-glitz / whatever with an Atari label on it.
As if I desired to do so.

Based on past experience, about two years after I buy a peecee, someone
will tell me that it is obsolete.  Another 2-3 years after that, I will
begin to get the itch to buy something better.  A year later, I will.  If
all goes according to schedule, that means that I'll be buying something
new next year or 1991.  I seriously doubt that it will have an Atari label
on it.  I like the direction Apple is headed with the Mac IIcx, but (again)
probably won't be able to afford it.  I like much of what I see that the
Amiga can do.  '386-based DOS machines, with the addition of things like
H.P.'s New Wave software, are getting more attractive by the year.  Who
knows?  Not Atari, though -- I don't hate 'em, but I certainly no longer
love 'em.
-- 
>>> "Aaiiyeeeee!  Death from above!" <<<  | Steve Rehrauer
    Fone: (508)256-6600 x6168             | Apollo Computer, a
    ARPA: rehrauer@apollo.hp.com          | division of Hewlett-Packard
"Look, Max: 'Pressurized cheese in a can'.  Even _WE_ wouldn't eat that!"