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From: mrd@SUN.MCS.CLARKSON.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Atari's Marketing Approach
Message-ID: <8712050444.AA17251@sun.mcs.clarkson.edu>
Date: Fri, 4-Dec-87 23:44:05 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.8712050444.AA17251
Posted: Fri Dec  4 23:44:05 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Dec-87 06:20:05 EST
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In high school they told me that the reason for studing history was
not to learn all the dates and stuff but so that I could see the
future.  Basicly as you have heard many times before "history repeats
itself."  This has never been so true with atari.

Back when the atari 800 came out it was intended as direct
compition with apple.  They studied the apple and made many
improvements: a better keyboard, better graphics and the
best expansion capabilities I have ever seen on a commersial 8
bit computer.  If you have ever taken apart an 800 you will
see that the back of the board has this wicked expansion edge but
was enclosed so that you could not access it.  Error #1 - made
a computer that could and should have been expandable but do 
to marketing desided to make it rather unexpandable.  Then 
they took this computer that in my opinion was desided as
a small buisness computer (probably word processing) and turn
it into a game computer.  They then said that a nice disk drive
would be available REAL SOON NOW called the 815.  They also 
promissed a light pen, and several things that I don't remember
anymore.  Well the rest is history.

I figure the 815 is comprable to the laser printer or the unix box.

The light pen might be compared to the blitter.

marketing could be compared to marketing.

Boy were my teachers ever right but I didn't think they
were this right and I don't think they thought so either.

There are also many amazing similarities between old atari
and old commodore and new atari and new commodore.

Atari has taken the point of view that making vapor-ware is ok.
Buggy os's are ok.
New products that just look new are ok.
Game machines are ok.

Michael DeCorte
mrd@clutx.clarkson.edu
mrd@clutx.bitnet

p.s. Sorry Neil I realize that you can't do anything about any of
this, these decisions are made higher up.  After all if you could
you would change it right?