======================================================================= EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ALWIN STUMPH AND RICHARD MILLER -------------------------------------------------------- by Christian Strasheim and Michael Schuetz ======================================================================= courtesy of Germany's ATARI PD JOURNAL translated by Kevin Festner for Z*NET During CeBit 91, we had the opportunity to talk with Alwin Stumph, Managing Director of Atari Germany and President of Atari Worldwide Sales and Marketing, and Richard Miller, Chief of R & D with Atari USA. PD JOURNAL: A question on your role at Atari, Mr Stumph. In the last few months there has been some confusion concerning your area of responsibility. What is it all about? Alwin Stumph: My range of responsibility concerns all of Atari's divisions, including the U.S. That means my role in the U.S. is practically the same as in Holland, Austria, or Germany. The section heads report to me. PD: What is the policy at Atari concerning video games, particularly with the Lynx? AS: There is a another Lynx model that differs merely in the design from the current model. CeBit is not a forum for this product, and because of that, we displayed only a few for entertainment. A renaissance has taken place in video games. In the last year, in Germany alone, we have sold 250,000 video games, without expending a lot of effort. It wouldn't be prudent to abandon this market. PD: Will Atari distinguish itself from its video game line, and like Commodore, show and sell them separately? AS: We're divided on that already, the funds and sales are divided. PD: How do you evaluate the market for Windows in the U.S.? Due to its cryptic user interface, DOS machines up to now posed no direct competition for the ST. Microsoft has really pushed Windows. 20 million packages have been sold and of course, this speaks for itself. Does Windows pose any threat for Atari? AS: I can't assess it at this time. In fact, I have the feeling, this competition will stimulate business, as so frequently happens. We are not the only ones employing a graphical user interface. The desktop is becoming a standard and due to this it might make selling a bit easier. PD: What's the story on the Portfolio? At the press conference we learned that a RAM extension, for example, would be very expensive, bringing the Portfolio into the price range of the Notebook. Do I understand that the originally planned redesign will not be carried out? AS: In this respect the market has changed a little, as you approach the price of the Notebook. And the Portfolio as a lap-top computer does not make any more sense. Atari prefers to approach this market from above, so to speak. PD: And that's the key concept here. To what extent will the hardware have similarities to the current ST? Richard Miller: The ST-Book will embody two custom chips already used in the STE. In addition, we will be installing a lot of new hardware in both new models. About 30 discreet CMOS chips will use special 'Power Management' allowing the optimal use of battery capacity. We will also equip the existing production models with these discrete chips, since they have less power consumption than newer chips. We're talking about micro-amps. The power consumption of a CMOS chip in standby-mode amounts to perhaps 10 micro-amps. That corresponds to two electrons per second. PD: What does that have to do with pseudo-static RAM? RM: Pseudo-static RAM is primarily dynamic RAM with some intelligent logic chips added. Addressing is carried out in parallel and is not normally multiplexed. And because of that, the chip has more pins than dynamic RAM. In addressing a specific point in memory, fewer parts of the chips are activated than with dynamic RAM. In concrete terms that means that in a 16 bit data bus, only two pseudo-static RAM chips with an 8 bit bus must be addressed, and with dynamic RAM 4 or 16 chips must be addressed. Furthermore pseudo-static RAM has a self-refresh mode without necessitating an external refresh. In this mode pseudo-static RAM needs about ten times as much current as static RAM and the contents in memory can be stored over months. PD: The external storage card in the ST Pad is certainly interesting news. Who will offer the cards and at what price? RM: The specifications for this card and especially for the 68 pin mechanical connector comes from a firm by the name of JEIDA and has already become standardized. These cards come equipped with static RAM and can offer a storage capacity of up to 4 MBytes. Principly, they can be equipped with any type storage, even with ROM, so that a complete application can be offered. There are about eight suppliers of such cards and the price will certainly fall to such an extent that I really don't want to speculate on the cost. In addition, these card can not only be fitted with memory. I know a company who offers a modem on this type of card. That means there is a complete system bus on the connector. PD: At first report the ST Pad will not be offered with a hard-drive. It this decision final? RM: Hard drives are very sensitive at the moment. The head flies over the surface of the platter at a distance of a few microns. Anytime such a mechanical contrivance is used there is a high risk of damage. We need to look around more for a hard drive to equip the ST Pad which can offer a certain level of reliability. But I'm not convinced whether the ST Pad requires a hard drive. The use we have envisioned for the ST Pad is that it can manage well without a hard drive. I'm more interested in offering a radio modem and a hard drive, which can send data over packet radio. Atari is working with other firms on the development of such a modem. PD: Do you think it will be possible to equip it with such a modem, especially in Germany? RM: That will certainly be difficult. In the U.S, the F.C.C. reserves certain frequencies for such uses. Radio modems can be purchased, for example, from Motorola. The German Postal Service is the big problem here. PD: Finally a question on which we really don't expect an answer. At the press conference last night, there was a question from the audience regarding the Multi-tasking TOS. Leonard Tramiel and you, Mr. Miller, responded by smiling. What should we read from this smile? AS: It has never been a secret that Atari is moving towards multi- tasking. We have entered into discussions with major software firms in Dusseldorf on this subject. And in time we will be working on it. And with every new TOS version, an upgrade to multitasking TOS will be possible. PD: Can we count on this TOS being ready for release sometime this year? AS: Perhaps. PD: Mr. Miller, Mr. Stumph, thank you for this informative interview. <<<<*>>>><<<<*>>>><<<<*>>>>