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*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" June 22, 1990 No.6.25 ======================================================================= STReport Online Magazine? Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST/14.4 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** STR'S owned & operated support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport Online Magazine and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport Online Magazine for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 06/22/90: STReport? #6.25 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------- - CPU REPORT - ATARI FUTURE - ATARI TO MOVE? - TT030 Specs - WAACE Updates - ATARI APOCALYPSE - CodeHead Online CO - NE AtariFest Info - STR CONFIDENTIAL * CODEHEAD ANNOUNCES NEW WARES! ~ ATARI USING NAI'L DISTRIBUTORS! * * ATARI INTROS OWN NETWORK ~ VANCOUVER EYEWITNESS REPORT! * ========================================================================== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE? "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, Please call # 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium? Here we are, on the doorstep to Atari's "New Beginning" and we find that the temper tantrums and the behind the scenes nonsense have yet to slow one iota. Elsewhere in this issue we examine the 'long awaited' release of the STe. Atari's market needed this release and there is no doubt it will have a lasting effect on the future of Atari as has every other major product release from Atari. Amazingly, the grapevine tells us that the snippets emanating from "The Day Care Center" have yet to subside, in fact, we have it on reliable information that one 'trustee' in the center has sworn to step up these nefarious activities. Oh well, 'Small things amuse small minds". With the advent of Atari showing the TT in Canada, there now is a glimmer of hope in the future for both Atari and the revival of its North American marketplace. Of course, there are those who ask; "when is Atari going to allow the USA to enjoy the ...." The answer is we are part of North America, are we not? There are reports that the CD Rom is in limited distribution and that the STe is in full distribution to through out the USA, including major electronics distributors like Almo etc.. Perhaps, Atari's leadership is beginning to listen to the users, they've only been begging for positive action for almost two years. STReport, in keeping with the tradition of not masking or sugar coating the facts has, in the past few weeks, noticed that a good number of long time users have also decided to say it like it is. Perhaps a good percentage of the entire userbase is now ready to deal with Atari on mature head to head level instead of the condescending treatment Atari has dealt to the userbase in the past. Of course, there are those who say Atari is doomed etc... STReport says there is always hope for a bright future as long as the leadership is willing to listen and make changes when the changes are in the best interests of both the company and the loyal users supporting the company. Time, will tell all...... Thanks for your support, Ralph..... OF NOTE: Atari Corp. may be moving to either Canada or the northeastern United States. As this story develops, we will, of course, keep you up to date. Half the warehouse facilities are already leased out.... If Atari is moving, it now becomes very clear that the good folks who work at Atari have also been placed in a very nasty position, especially those who have recently relocated and bought homes in the Sunnyvale area. According to our sources, certain employees have known of this possible move for approximately 7 - 10 days.... *********************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTICE! As a reader of ST Report Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. For only $29.95 ($20 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscription to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page DELPHI: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE and over $14 worth of free time. NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines: STart Current Notes ST Informer Atari Interface Magazine Signing up with DELPHI ---------------------- Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call. Join -- DELPHI -------------- 1. Dial 617-576-0862 with any terminal or PC and modem (at 2400 bps, dial 576-2981). 2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI. 3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT. For more information, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005, or at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S. DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. *********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT? ========== Issue # 72 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1975, Bill Gates began licensing his version of BASIC to a company called MITS, which sold it for the Altair 8800 microcomputer? And, after Bill Gates wrote an open letter to many computer magazines saying that "if computerists did not stop stealing his software, he would stop writing it?", he began a company called Microsoft, with its first product called Microsoft BASIC? CPU INSIGHTS? ============ COMDEX CHANGES ARISING FOR THE INTERFACE GROUP ---------------------------------------------- The Interface Group, the organization which holds the Spring Comdex and Fall Comdex shows in the US, has recently announced that its first Comdex/Europe show, held in April at Paris, was "very successful". This show, which attracted 335 exhibitors and over 140,000 people, has been viewed as an alternative to the annual CEBIT Show, held in Germany. While the CEBIT show is the largest such computer exhibition in the world, the Interface Group predicts that Comdex/Europe will quickly become a major contender. Over 60 US firms have registered for Comdex/Europe Fall, which is taking place on October 3-6, 1990, and 90 companies have already signed up for the next Comdex/Europe Spring show, in April 22-27, 1991. However, while Comdex/Spring (or Spring Comdex) is faring well in Europe, it is experiencing harsh problems in the US. The most recent US Show, held in Atlanta, wasn't attended by several computer companies, (including IBM, Apple, Lotus, and Compaq, because of its traditionally low attendance levels. Instead, many of these companies choose to attend Fall Comdex which usually has twice the amount of attendance. Other companies plan to follow their footsteps, because they "don't have to exhibit to throw a party". This comment may refer to an incident at Spring Comdex where Microsoft, even though they didn't exhibit at the show, gained significant press coverage nevertheless. It seems that rumors of a "Microsoft Party" led many reporters to a small contingent of Microsoft employees, who led them across the street from the World Congress Center (where Spring Comdex is held), to a group of limousines which took the press to a private home in Atlanta where Microsoft gave a short party/seminar on its Windows line of software. Interestingly enough, Microsoft says that this was one in a series of "road shows" aimed at users and Developers.... The Interface Group has also had to fight off a rumor that Spring Comdex would be held in Chicago next year. This rumor was partly caused by a few who believed that Atlanta lacked the quantity of exhibit space needed for a show the size of Comdex to be held there. But one reason for Comdex/Spring's troubles this year may have been scheduling problems. The Interface Group originally planned the show to take place in Atlanta on April, but then changed the location to Chicago. It then doubled back on its decision, but by then exhibit space in Atlanta was already booked, and Comdex/Spring had to be held in June. However, the CES Show was held at the same time, and the PC Expo (which IBM and Apple ARE exhibiting at) was being held later in June. Also, these same shows are usually attended by many corporate executives intending to make firm buying decisions.... CPU Systems Roundup? XXXI ========================= FEDERAL COURT REINSTATES STAY HALTING 68030 PRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------ A day after a regional US District Court reinstated a ruling which banned Motorola from manufacturing or selling its 68030 microprocessor in America, Motorola obtained a temporary stay on the 68030 ban from the US District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. In March 1990, Judge Lucius Bunton (of the US District Court in Austin, Texas) had ruled that the MMU (Memory Management Unit) used in the 68030 infringed on a Hitachi patent, but he had temporarily delayed the 68030 ban until June 18. Motorola (who earned $100 million dollars worth of 68030-related sales last year) then appealed the ruling to the Federal Patent Appeals Court in Washington. Under the terms of this stay, Motorola will file a formal motion for a stay this week, but will be allowed to make and sell its 68030 chip until a decision is reached on whether it can do so while the District Court hears its case.... The original series of lawsuits between Hitachi and Motorola came from difficulties arising after Motorola and Hitachi ended a long standing technology sharing agreement in January 1989. Motorola charged that Hitachi's H8/532 chip had infringed on its patents, while Hitachi charged that the MMU used by the 68030 and 88000 microprocessors its '271' patent. Both companies have been successful in their lawsuits, as Bunton ruled that neither the H8/532 chip and the 68030 chip could be sold or made in the US. In his ruling, Bunton urged both companies to settle their disputes out of court..... Ironically, while Judge Bunton delayed his ruling to give both companies time to settle their difficulties out of court, Hitachi may have little incentive to do so. While Hitachi cannot sell the H8/532 chip in the US, it hasn't sold many of those chips in the US anyway. In fact, Hitachi may decide to sue Motorola over the 68040, if the MMU design that the 68040 chip uses is similar to the 68030's MMU.... Interestingly, this already-convoluted situation has taken yet another turn. Yesterday, Hewlett-Packard announced that it has signed an agreement with Hitachi, which allows it to use the Hitachi MMU circuitry which is the basis for the Motorola/Hitachi lawsuit, or to have other companies make the circuitry for them. Under the terms of this agreement, HP believes that the US Government would allow Motorola to make the 68030 for Hewlett-Packard, if the US District Court of Appeals decides not to repeal Judge Bunton's ruling. This means that Hewlett-Packard has the best chance of maintaining a secure supply of 68030 chips, no matter how the Motorola/Hitachi lawsuit turns out. Because of this announcement, there have been speculation that HP might be able to resell 68030s that it gets to companies like Apple, but Hewlett-Packard has refused to comment on this possibility.... In its appeal, Motorola has revealed that the U.S. Patent Office granted its request to reexamine Hitachi's '271' patent. Motorola has found evidence that this patent (upon which Hitachi's suit against the 68030 is based) may be invalid, based on a patent issued in 1966. For now, Motorola will try to get the US District Court of Appeals to completely stay the lower court's 68030 ban, pending the outcome of its appeal. If Motorola is successful in obtaining this, then Motorola will be able to make and sell 68030 chips in the US until the US District Court in Washington rules on Motorola's appeal. CPU MacNews? =========== MACINTOSH PRICE CUTS, SCULLEY INTERVIEWED, AND DEADLY MONITORS -------------------------------------------------------------- In a recent interview, John Sculley (Chairman of Apple) recently stated that price cuts are "more or less over for this year" for its existing Mac Plus, SE, and Mac II line of computers. He also reaffirmed his commitment to making a Low-end Macintosh capable of utilizing 32-bit QuickDraw, and commented that sales were shifting from the Apple II line (which earns small net margins for Apple) to the Macintosh, which make higher margins. In making this point, Sculley commented that this would allow Apple to go after the low-end of the computer marketplace more competitively. Sculley also indicated that Apple was working on a lighter portable Macintosh.... Several technology analysts say that the market for home/small business computers is growing by over 70 percent a year, and many investors have criticized Apple's lack of competitiveness in this area of the industry. In order to remedy this, Apple has indicated that its upcoming low-end Macintosh will be in the $1500 - $2000 price range. Also, it may reportedly use a 16 MHZ 68020. To cover the software compatibility concerns of the current Apple II userbase (particularly in the educational field), several have indicated that Apple may develop an Apple II coprocessor board for the Macintosh. However, some feel that a low-cost Macintosh may also cut into Apple's profit margins, even though Apple has recently performed several cost control procedures (including a layoff of 400 people) to ensure its profitability. Apple has also not fared well from other sectors of the Macintosh universe. In its latest issue, Macworld published an article warning that low-frequency electromagnetic emissions from cathode ray tube (or CRT) computer monitors may, in the long term, cause several health problems. Many in the news media quickly interpreted this as saying that "radiation emissions from Macintosh monitors were 'worrisome'", and Apple stock then dropped almost a dollar a share. In contrast to its previous reactions to Macworld's inquiries on the matter (before the article was published), Sculley said that Apple has hired several outside experts to research the possible existence, extent and danger of this problem.... But ponder, if you will, this question: 1) Is there any truth to public opinion that a significant amount of "hackers" nowadays are people who use computers for malicious purposes? > CPU STATUS REPORT? >>>> INDUSTRY-WIDE LATE BREAKING NEWS <<<< ================= - Mountain View, CA ADOBE INTRODUCES POSTSCRIPT LEVEL 2 ----------------- Only a few months after it released Postscript's specifications into the Public Domain, Adobe Systems Inc. has introduced an updated version of the language. Called Postscript Level 2, it consolidates and improves many of Adobe's extensions to Postscript, such as forms handling, color support, and faster graphics and text operators. In addition to making these changes, Adobe has made its Postscript interpreter faster and more efficient. In order to further improve Postscript's performance, Adobe is writing new system-level drivers to improve printing time and support for printer-specific features like duplex printing and multiple paper trays. These drivers will be made for the Macintosh, OS/2, and Windows 3.0. - Osaka, Japan APPLE PORTABLE LCD SCREEN MAKER EXPANDS PRODUCTION ------------ Hosiden Electronics plans to spend over $227 million in the next three years to boost its production of LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. It will spend $27 million in improving a current factory, but will spend over $200 million over the next three years to build a new factory. While it currently makes $87 million a year in this growing, but fiercely competitive market, it hopes to be making $324 million by the time this new factory is built. The fortunes of this company's efforts may greatly affect Apple, as Hosiden currently manufactures the active-matrix LCD screens used by the Apple Portable. Interestingly, it ships 10,000 LCD screens to Apple a month.... - Washington, DC ANTI-PIRACY ASSOCIATIONS PLAN TO MERGE -------------- The Business Software Alliance (or BSA) has announced plans to merge with the Software Publishers Administration, in order to better coordinate their efforts in such things as fighting software piracy and representing software companies more effectively in major issues. The BSA is a group of six major software companies (all of which were already part of the SPA) which focused on both fighting worldwide software piracy and copyright infringement, and representing the software industry in international trade issues. It will now perform these functions as a part of the SPA, which represents more than 650 software companies. The SPA will continue to focus on fighting software piracy in North America, and (with the BSA) will fight software piracy worldwide through educational campaigns and litigation.... - Tokyo, Japan HITACHI SHOWS MEMORY CHIP BREAKTHROUGHS ------------ Hitachi has recently announced that it has made a working prototype of a 64-megabit memory chip. While other memory chip makers, like Fujitsu and TI, have expressed efforts to make such a chip, Hitachi is one of the first to successfully produce one. Running at 50 ns (nanoseconds), it has circuit lines which are 0.3 microns wide. However, Hitachi has said that such a chip won't be commercially available until 1995.... However, Hitachi has also started manufacturing the first DRAM chips that can operate at 35 ns. This new series of chips, which is first appearing in the Cheetah 433 (a 33 MHZ 80486 IBM Clone), is fast enough for many computers using processors with clock speeds of 20 MHZ and above to perform effectively without needing a CPU Cache or Static RAM. Before this, the fastest commercial DRAM chips operated at 55 - 60 ns. Hitachi and Texas Instruments have also announced plans to begin sample shipments of 16 Megabit DRAM chips in Fall 1990, as a result of their joint development efforts. Hitachi and Texas Instruments began these efforts, which involved both joint development of a 16 Megabit DRAM chip and the exchange of DRAM manufacturing expertise, in late 1988. The announced shipment date is a year earlier than was originally expected, and is 1 - 1 1/2 years earlier than other DRAM vendors (like IBM and Fujitsu) have announced for their 16 megabit DRAM production.... CPU Addendum: In CPU Report Issue 71, people who perform activities such ============ as illegally breaking into private networks or systems using computers were referred to as computer "crackers". This name became attributed to them because some have compared themselves to safe crackers, just as software thieves compare themselves to pirates.... _____________________________________________________________ > ATARI APOCALYPSE STR PROBE? FOOTSHOTS, A WAY OF LIFE? WHY?? ========================== NOTICE: This is the THIRD in a series of eight (8) articles which are designed to stimulate thought and bring to the light of day, the underlying causes behind the very apparent decline of Atari Computers worldwide. We will be taking a very thorough look at every aspect of Atari's management, procedures and policies that continually seem to send the same message to the users, developers, contractors, dealers, distributors and prospective users, "HOORAY FOR US AND THE HELL WITH YOU!" ATARI'S HALL OF SHAME ===================== by Ralph F. Mariano Never, in the history of the computer world have so few done so much to injure a great concept, design and product line as the ST. The Katzenjammer have proven ,beyond a shadow of a doubt, just how much apparent thought went into the overall decision making process. Below, we present a table of a few of the most memorable decisions that had an everlasting effect on all of us.... THE "MEGA" ROMS --------------- This is a classic; all over the USA, there users utilizing only TOS 1.0, a slow, buggy OS that was 'the best available' up to the point where users began to find out about the existence of TOS 1.2. Ironically, the manner in which the release of TOS 1.2 was handled would have a profound effect on the release and acceptance of the newer TOS 1.4 (that's another story). Users, usergroups and dealers soon found that Atari was allowing the newer TOS 1.2 to appear first in the new machines they were shipping and were not available to the users as an upgrade either direct, or through their dealers. This action on the part of Atari caused such an uproar that even dealers were ready to remove the chips from the new units to placate their 'preferred' customers who want to maintain up to date machines. As time has shown this release of TOS 1.2 made for strained relationships throughout the US dealer network. Actually, to bring us up to date for a moment, the MEGA roms are STILL HAUNTING THE USA USERBASE! All ST computers coming into the States are still arriving with TOS 1.2 installed in the from the factory! THE CHINON DRIVE MEDIA CHANGE FIASCO ------------------------------------ Hot on the heels of the TOS 1.2 footshot, the very nasty and extremely aggravating drive dilemma became known. Atari was made very well aware of the media change recognition problem with a particular production run of the now infamous Chinon AA drives being shipped in the mega/1040 units. Oddly enough, only the DS/DD drive were effected. Instead of a general bulletin advising users of this problem, there had to arise an uproar from the userbase itself before Atari came forward and allowed exchanges to take place. The next hurdle was the once again or as always, depending on how you look at it, problem of a lack of sufficient dealers. In the end Atari allowed users to send in the drive mechanism for exchange directly. This was a good decision brought about by much clamoring by very unhappy users. THE 520STFM DS DRIVE EXPOSE --------------------------- Not surprisingly, after Federated was acquired, the assurances flew hot and heavy. All directed at the existing dealers in areas that had Federated Outlet(s) nearby. These dealers were told that they would not be placed in direct competition with the mass merchandiser/discount house image Federated presented. Thus assured, the dealers went about their business. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered by the wife of a friend of one of the dealers who worked at a federated outlet that the 520STFM units Federated was receiving had DOUBLE SIDED drives installed from the factory in them. Meanwhile the "loyal" dealers had 520STFM units with SS drives in inventory. The outcry was loud enough to be clearly heard on the east coast. Atari then allowed the dealers (after many complaints and bitter confrontations) to either discount the units or send in the SS drives for DS drives. Still, the dealers had a serious problem, the Federated Stores were selling the 520STF DS units at retail prices LESS than the dealers in those areas were able to buy them wholesale from Atari. FEDERATED PURCHASE; THE GREATEST "NON-ISSUE" OF ALL!! ------------------------------------------------------- There is nothing much left to be said concerning this dilly of a decision, except perhaps, the thoughts of what wonderful things could have come to pass had the blown bucks, (Millions ..down the tubes), been invested in the USA's Atari ST market. Another in the long line of successful decisions by the present leadership that have "helped" Atari achieve its present stature in the USA's computer market. TOS 1.4; THE LONG AWAITED "QUANTUM LEAP" --------------------------------------- The Userbase, now very well tuned in to the 'on again, off again' Atari attitude of support for the USA market watched, with great care, the development and release of TOS 1.4. They had just cause to do so. From the very beginnings of the TOS 1.4 era, we saw countless revelations pertaining to its development and fine tuning, from requests by Al Ferrara for bug reports placed in the public fora both here and in Europe to false starts pertaining to its release (Chris Roberts). Additionally, there were dealers who received pre-release chipsets (4/89) for the customers who had purchased Moniterm Monitors. NB.. the Moniterm Monitor works with only TOS 1.4 or greater. TOS 1.4 will long be remembered as the TOS with an extremely checkered beginning. It certainly was the most controversy ridden TOS up to that time. In fact, we may never see an end to the problems arising from the mis-managed release of this version of TOS. Still, (06/1990) they (Atari) continue to ship the new ST units with TOS 1.2 while 1.4 is on sale around the globe. WHY? MICROSOFT WRITE & DESKSET II; MORE "NON-ISSUES"! ------------------------------------------------ Untold hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in these two programs by Atari and where are they? Ask any any dealer to compare these two "GEMS" to any of the competitive programs available, and you will find an overwhelming majority of the dealers will point in any direction but toward these two "jewels". STE & TOS 1.6; MANAGED BY SAME PROS AS TOS 1.4? ---------------------------------------------- Almost immediately after the STe was released all over the world, except of course the USA, it was discovered, among other problems DMA etc..., that due to a bug in the new TOS 1.6 the O.S. would only boot in LOW REZ. So, an auto folder patch program was released to correct this situation and a new chip version, TOS 1.62 was destined to emerge. A short while later the USA finally gets the good news that the STe was awarded FCC approval. Dealers and users alike rejoice knowing they will soon be able to enjoy selling and using the new STe machines. Toward the end of spring 1990, there is one thousand brand spanking new STe units ready to ship to the USA's dealers. Somebody decided to unbox one of these 'gems' and see what it was like. Lo and behold, it won't boot in anything but LOW REZ! As the word buzzed through Sunnyvale expressions like; "but they had the chips and the instructions to install TOS 1.62", could be heard. Almost at the same time, we are told that there would be a slight delay cause by this and that Atari was going to do the right thing and make sure TOS 1.62 would be in the machines destined for USA marketplace. The strongest of assurances came from Atari stating that they would "make sure the new STe units destined for the USA market would have the newer TOS 1.62". Most all the dealers and users in the USA breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed; "well, maybe their attitude has changed and they are now concentrating on doing the right thing". Ah yes here we are, a short while later.. and we find that the STe units shipping in the USA have, at this time, the "BROKEN" TOS 1.6. Now, the big question is will those who buy the STe with TOS 1.6 be able to obtain the "good version" TOS 1.62 and either install it themselves or have it installed at NO EXTRA COST? Or, are these folks going to face the old "handling fee" routine? We find that certain 'online reps' have taken it upon themselves to call this latest occurance a "non-issue" and one felt it necessary to pass off a snide remark or two, the fact remains.. the machines are out there now with an autofolder patch program, while there is a fixed version 1.62 'in the wings'. The big question now is will the current batch of purchasers be 'forced to buy' the fixed version or will it be provided? Editor Note: STReport invites our reader to participate. If you have a memorable "NON-ISSUE" you wish to submit by all means let us know. Please submit the item in this format; ~ time period (spring'89) ~ the event/decision (brief description) ~ the decision maker/cause. (brief outline) __________________________________________________________ > STR Mail Call? Letters to the Editor ============= From: The GEnie STReport Area.. Category 26, Topic 2 Message 388 Tue Jun 19, 1990 B.PISCHKE at 21:18 EDT ST-REPORT, I am disgusted how you always tell YOUR side of the story. For example, in STR624, you post messages from the Forem crossnet ... but not the replies. You post only the ones that tell what you believe. You always put things in the worst possible light. I am not saying that I like what Atari is doing; don't get me wrong. I just don't like how you report your "news". If one deleted all the "flames", the file would be reduced to around 10K or so. You just lost a reader. Editor: Its important to understand that STReport relates the stories exactly how they are received. In many cases, the submitted story carries an opinion included or, as in most cases, the story comes by way of a phone call to the editor and the reactions of the caller are included. Although the reader seems to agree with the facts that Atari is far from doing the right thing, the impression left is that of well, leave it quietly said. Or, not said at all. Perhaps "it will go away by itself?" That is all well and good had this year been the first year of grief, frustration and on the part of the USA users. This is the fifth year and we agree with the general opinion that all that's left is the shouting and if Atari can't 'hear' that, then all is truly lost. Sent : Jun 19, 1990 at 9:49 PM To : STReport From : D. MCGUIRE at The SAGE BBS! Subj : Atari Exchange Program Ralph, I think your article on Atari's exchange program is right on target! The exchange program was Atari's most effective effort at product/user support. Their attempt to steer users to the dealers for service rather than have them use the exchange program would be all right IF they had dealers!!! Lacking a viable dealer network, the exchange program was a very reasonable way to go. It's a little hard to believe that someone would send in a working 520 STFM and $115 just to get one with a double-sided drive!!! I would think they would offer direct exchange at the "dealer" price to users who don't have a dealer within 50 miles of them. What does Bob Brodie have to say about this??? Editor: Bob Brodie made mention of this entire situation at the PACE show recently in Pittsburgh, where he stated the reason you mention above as being a major excuse for the now extremely high rates of the exchange program. One would think though that the working 520stf and $115.00 would more than cover the cost of the swap to obtain the DS drive. In retrospect, how smart Atari would have been to institute an exchange policy for just drives in all 520SFTM that were sold within say, a 90day period at the time the first 520stf units appeared with the DS drives in them. But no, another magnanimous policy blunder to engender plenty of hard feelings and scorn. The "beancounters at Atari" pull off another dilly...<sigh> __________________________________________________________________ > CODEHEAD CONFERENCE! STR FOCUS? HOT TOPICS COVERED IN THIS ONE!! ============================== CODEHEAD SOFTWARE CONFERENCE WITH CHARLES F. JOHNSON JUNE 12, 1990 <ANALOG4> Hi, folks, and welcome to DELPHI's ST Advantage. Tonight we're pleased to have Charles F. Johnson from CodeHead Software in a formal Conference. Because this is a formal conference, we need to have some rules, so let's get those out of the way first. To keep things under control, we ask that you not "talk" until you've been given the floor by the conference moderator (me). If you would like to ask Charles a question, signal the moderator by typing a question mark (?). Your name will then be put on a list, and you will be notified when it is your turn to speak. When you have the floor, please keep your questions and comments as brief as is reasonable. We want to keep things moving fast so that everyone gets a chance to participate. When you have finished speaking, signal us by typing GA. With that out of the way, I'd like to welcome Charles Johnson from CodeHead Software. Charles, is there anything you'd like to say to get things started? .Charles> Sure. I don't really have anything prepared, but I do want to mention that we're about to release some neat new products that should fit right in everyone's CodeHead collection. Our new package is going to contain two new programs both written by Doug Harrison (of OPUS spreadsheet fame known as MEDSTUD here on Delphi). One is called PopIt!....it's a program that lets you "HotWire" your desk accessories. In other words, assign each accessory a certain "hot key" and bring it up instantly in any program by typing that key. (Yes, it also works with accs loaded inside MultiDesk!) The other program will be called LookIt! And please believe me when I tell you that this is the _ultimate_ file viewer/binary file editor. We're really looking forward to getting these programs out there, and we're shooting for a release within a month/6 weeks. That's all. :) .Clay> Sounds great! Thanks, Charles. Okay, GA Scott. SCOTTJ> Will any of your programs work on the 68030 used in the TT? .Charles> Scott: Yes, all of our programs will work on a 68030 processor. Some of them will require updates, but the latest versions of everything definitely do work. (We got some after-hours time on a TT at the WOA show in April, and made sure of it.) :) .Clay> GA, David. .David> Since you were voted "Best Shareware Author" last year, how has the response been ($) to LGF Software? Are you thinking of developing new products or just supporting/enhancing the old ones? .Charles> David: The response to my shareware programs _has_ picked up a bit since the award in Shareware Connection, and I'm really grateful to everyone who's paid the registration fee for one of my products. But to give a little perspective on the shareware market, I recently released version 1.7 of PinHead. Over on GEnie (sorry, Clay!), there have been over 800 downloads of the program in a little over a month. (Which means that who-knows-how-many people actually have copies.) Well, in my entire database for all four of my shareware products I have a few more than _half_ that many people. All in all, not really a great score for the "honor system" I think. I know a lot of people just don't think about it, and put it off or don't have time, etc. ....but so far, even though shareware is picking up, things are pretty slim. .Clay> You're up, Dana. .Dana> Well, Charlie, I really don't have a question, but a comment. I'd like to congratulate you and John for all of your products thus far. You folks seem to come out with products that are useful for everyone, and it's appreciated, especially in a dwindling ST-support group. I also have a question, and Clay should probably delete it from the final draft of this CO, but I was wondering if it's still possible to upgrade HotWire! with MaxiFile, perhaps even while online here Sorry, Clay, it wasn't that bad!! Upgrade, as in, take an order for it :) .Charles> Well....the upgrade offer to HotWire Plus, for owners of HotWire 1.3 and earlier has been expired for several months now, unfortunately. At this time, we aren't doing online upgrades, because of the expense and time involved. .Dana> I meant to be able to order it while online, rather than an actual updated file in the downloads. .Charles> Dana: Sure, actually you can indeed order MaxiFile online if you wish. Although, to be honest, it might be cheaper to just call us at (213) 386-5735. .Clay> Okay, Walter. You're up. .Walter> Charles: I'm not up to date--sorry... .Charles> That's OK, Walter. I'm not that up-to-date either. :) .Walter> ...but, re: the question about the 68010. What about your software with archaic equipment like the ATR8000? .Charles> The ATR8000? Wow! We're talking 8-bit stuff here, right? .Walter> Yes. .Charles> Well, all the CodeHead products are for the ST. I did own an ATR8000 at one time, but those days have past. Sadly. :) .Clay> Charles wrote some marvelous programs for the 8-bit--a long time ago! .Charles> I loved my 8-bit Atari. <sob> Excuse me while I get maudlin. :) .Clay> GA, Bill. .Bill> Charles, I purchased G+PLUS here while back and I can't seem to locate any support in the way of printer drivers. I have a Demo version of a manual maker that uses GDOS and it works great but I'm having problems with the printer and the graphics handling. .Charles> What kind of printer do you need a driver for, Bill? .Bill> SEARS SR1000 and a SR5000. .Charles> Hmmm. Those are two printers I've never heard of. I'd suggest contacting Migraph and/or Neocept. Both of those companies market GDOS printer drivers and they may be able to help you. .Bill> The SR 1000 works great its the 5000 I can't seem to get to work properly. .Clay> Okay, Scott. SCOTTJ> What do you think about the general state of the ST in the USA? Do you think that if Atari ran an ad campaign for the ST like they have for the Lynx, it would revive the ST in the USA? .Charles> Wow, a loaded question, eh? Like most people, I guess, I'm not very happy with the way Atari has handled the US market. Just about every one of their promises to advertise the ST has failed to materialize, while developers and users move on to other machines. Atari has to perform some emergency surgery _soon_ or the US market is going to be a dead issue for them. Call me a die-hard, but I do think it's still possible for them to come back. However (and that's a big "however"), it's going to take a real commitment, in terms of advertising dollars and user support. The next six months are going to be very revealing. SCOTTJ> Are you moving on too,Charles? Maybe to the European market? .Charles> Scott: I'd be less than honest if I said that I wasn't looking at other platforms for my software right now. .Clay> GA, Dana. .Dana> Since Scott opened up the door real wide, regarding CodeHead's support of the US market, does CodeHead have any user group support, possibly through donations of new products and/or advertising in local group newsletters? I've talked with John in the past, and he's been more than cooperative in regards to verbal help with product info on various products for newsletter articles, reviews, etc. Can CodeHead _afford_ to support, however minutely, groups with products or advertising? .Charles> Yes, we've advertised in user group newsletters in the past and we are interested in talking to _any_ user group about any kind of support we can give. If you have a specific proposal, just call us and we'll talk about it. .Dana> I will do that, personally--thanks. .Clay> GA, David. .David> Was the enormously fast Auto Organizer written in GFA BASIC, or are all CodeHead products 100% assembly? When will FatBack be available? .Charles> Yes, Auto Organizer was written in GFA Basic, with some assembly modules. That's the only product of ours (to date) that was not written in pure assembly language. Fatback is still under development (it's actually John's project) I know it's been a while since we first promised it, but believe it or not, we're still planning to release it. It all depends on when John can get time to work on it. (It's tough being a two-man operation sometimes.) .Clay> For those who don't know, Charles, what is FatBack? .Charles> Fatback is our hard disk backup program. It has a somewhat different approach than other backup systems; it does an "image" backup that still lets you extract individual files from the backup if you need to. Unfortunately, it's also our only "vaporware" product at this point....a series of setbacks and time conflicts have prevented us from releasing it yet. .Clay> Thanks, Charles. GA, Bill. .Bill> Concerning your hands-on experience with the TT. In your opinion, was it better than the ST or merely faster? .Charles> The TT is a nice machine, with several important improvements on the ST model. The VME bus alone holds immense promise for expandability. I liked it. I wish it was in the stores right now. .Clay> You're up, Drona. .Drona> Charles, first I want to say, for the _benefit_ of any newcomers, that Codehead software products are absolutely the greatest!!! PopIt! sounds like another absolute must-have revolutionary first! Does the exclamation point go with the name? LookIt! sounds cool too, but I'm not sure I understand what kinds of uses it might have. Would it allow viewing a text file anytime in the middle of a program? .Charles> LookIt! is a stand-alone program that not only lets you view text files, but also edit them, mark and save/delete blocks, and much much more. It's one of the nicest binary file editors in existence, too. (You can finally throw away Disk Doctor.) :) In addition to its functionality, it has a really nifty new approach to the user interface, that mimics the Macintosh in some ways. Doug Harrison's written a new object-drawing library that is quite unique. .Clay> GA, David. .David> Have you ever considered writing a reference guide for aspiring ST assembly programmers? I really enjoyed your Assembly Line articles from ST-Log. .Charles> That's a good idea, David, and yes, I have considered it but as always, it's very hard to find time to devote to a large project like that. .Clay> GA, Scott. SCOTTJ> Charles, why haven't you been on Delphi lately? You seem to be on GEnie all the time. Delphi's cheaper, you know. .Charles> Well....he he....you see, I had this big argument with Clay and... (just kidding, folks!). Actually, it's just been impossible to keep up on all the online services. In the future, I'm going to try to get up here a lot more often, so you may be seeing more of me than you want. :) .Clay> GA, Bill. .Bill> Charles, I just wanted to mention that we have a dealer here in Memphis, and he carries all of your products including shareware {disk for disk}. I wish all ST'ers could be as fortunate to have as good access as we do here. .Charles> So do I, Bill! Unfortunately, I've been hearing rumors (uh, "rumors") that one of the few remaining ST dealers here in Los Angeles is going to be closing soon. <sigh> .Clay> Okay, Gordie. .Gordie> I know this may be difficult to narrow down, but... .Clay> I think Gordie got knocked off line. While we wait for him...GA, David. .David> Will PopIt! be able to "hot-key" DAs that aren't in a slot or MultiDesk while within a program without memory fragmentation? .Charles> PopIt! lets you call up DAs that are already loaded; it doesn't load them at the time you press the "hot key." The ST's memory-allocation scheme is a very hard taskmaster and fragmentation is just about impossible to avoid in situations like that. .Clay> Gordie, you want to try again? <GRIN> .Gordie> Yeah, where was I when the 520 went south? Oh,...If you could change one thing about Atari US, what would it be? .Charles> Whew! .Gordie> B-) .Charles> Are you trying to get me in trouble? :) Actually, I'd change a lot more than one thing if I could, but it ain't my company, and at the present time, I don't think I'll have the capital to buy them out any time soon. I suppose the main thing I would change if I could is their attitude towards advertising. They can have the greatest computer in the world, but it doesn't mean nothin' if nobody knows about it. They _have_ to start advertising soon, if the US market is important to them at all. .Clay> RE: Advertising. Do you think that maybe it's too late for large-scale advertising to be effective? Where will people go to buy the equipment? There are almost no dealers left. .Charles> Yep, I know, Clay. Like I said, emergency surgery is called for. I'm not (quite) giving up on Atari yet, but they'd better DO something, and quick. .Clay> There have been rumors that Atari is in even worse shape than we suspect. I sure hope they're wrong. GA Gordie. .Gordie> I'm not so sure it's a matter of advertising, as marketing overall. Atari doesn't know who to try to sell to. The ST/TT isn't another C64, and they don't really have the marketing background for niche marketing beyond the MIDI market. Although the president of Atari US should understand niche marketing a little better. He used to sell Koala Springs soft drinks, hardly a major player in the soft drink market. .Charles> Good points, Gordie. I've heard some things lately that lead me to think that they may be beginning to understand just how bad off the US market really is. As I said, the next six months are going to be very revealing. .Clay> What have you heard? Can you share it with us? .Charles> Well, one thing I find encouraging is that Elie Whatsisname :) is coming from Atari France to help out with US marketing. This man was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing Atari France up from $0.00 to $50 mil a year. All reports are that he's very sharp, and that he won't have to answer to the Tramiels. Again....time will tell. .Clay> That sounds hopeful. But--and it's a big but--the Tramiels are famous for hiring experts and then firing them two weeks later. Let's all cross our fingers on this one! .Charles> Very true, Clay. .Clay> GA, Drona. .Drona> Charles, do you think that the strength of the European ST market specifically for MIDI and musicians, is such that you would recommend a musician to buy an ST for MIDI? And would you mind sharing with us what sequencer software you use? .Charles> There are some terrific MIDI applications for the ST, and I wouldn't have any pangs of conscience recommending the ST as a MIDI machine. However, it's also true that there are some terrific MIDI applications for other computers too; in fact, I recently had occasion to use the VISION sequencer on a Mac II, and I was quite blown away. VERY nice program. On the ST, I'm still using Hybrid Arts SMPTE-Track sequencer; it's always done everything I need a sequencer to do. .Clay> For all who may not know it, Charles is also a professional musician. .Drona> I have an ST, of course, but I've been advising friends that with the Euro MIDI software and ST use is so strong that even if things die out for Atari in the US that MIDI ST support will remain from Europe. Is this valid, Charles? .Charles> I dunno, Drona. I would suppose the European MIDI developers will keep going as long as there's one person out there using an ST for music. .Clay> You're up, Bill. .Bill> What kind of memory requirements do PopIt! and LookIt! have? And how do SW developers choose their test base {if any}. .Charles> PopIt! uses only about 20K; it's a desk accessory. LookIt! uses more memory, but it's not really an important issue, since it's not a resident program. I'm not sure what you mean by "test base." Can you elaborate? .Bill> Do you do all of the debugging yourself or do you enlist the aid of others? .Charles> Actually, we have 10 (or maybe 11) beta testers as our programs have grown in scope (and size) it's become impossible to do all testing ourselves.....so we've tried to enlist a representative group of ST (ab)users to test our stuff to destruction. .Bill> That's the word! {beta} I was wondering because of the different models of machines nowadays. .Clay> We've got one question left. Maybe it ought to be the last. What do you think, Charles? .Charles> Yeah....I've gotta be toddling along pretty soon! Fire when you see the whites of my eyes. .Clay> Okay, Scott, you get to close things up. SCOTTJ> Charles , do you know anything about this Midi-Tasking vs Multi-Tasking controversy? Will Atari's program work will all ST software or will just multitask music (MIDI) software? Also do you know when Atari will release it? .Charles> I haven't actually seen Atari's MIDI-tasking software yet but I HAVE spoken to several MIDI developers about it. Apparently, the software is going to be of most use to MIDI programs that are specifically written to use it. From what I've been told, there are very few "normal" ST applications that will be compatible with MIDI-tasking "out of the box." But if it does become popular for MIDI, we may see some non-MIDI software updated to take advantage of it. (I know I'd be very interested in a workable multitasking standard myself.) .Clay> Okay, I 'd like to thank Charles for taking the time to visit with us here, and thank all of you for attending. And remember that the best way to support the ST is to support its developers. So buy a lot of software ..especially from CodeHead! <GRIN> .Charles> Get down, Clay! <grin> .Clay> This CO is officially over! __________________________________________________________________ > VANCOUVER ATARI SHOW STR Spotlight? !EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORT! =================================== -----> EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORT <----- VANCOUVER ATARI SHOW by Oscar Steele It seems that everywhere you look, controversy and bad feelings surround Atari shows. Most recently, Rich Tsukiji, of ST World, has attempted to put on a show that would cause a conflict with the Glendale Atarifest's schedule. Last year, the same thing happened, and both shows were canceled. Many users and developers still have vivid memories of this year's PACE show because of accusations of mass piracy by show goers. Even though the show was well advertised and hyped, it failed to surpass 500 attendees (compared to other Atari shows of the past which had six to eight thousand users). The stability of yesteryear's Atari user group shows have been shattered. With this in mind I didn't know exactly to expect at the Vancouver Atari Show. It wasn't touted as a major show, as PACE was, but word of it did spread in local user group newsletters and on GEnie, where I first heard about it. Most descriptions were vague, mentioning the location (Vancouver), date (June 16th), and that the TT would be shown. I wasn't even aware of the exact location until the day before the show. Since Vancouver is relatively close to me, my curiosity was sparked. I went to a local Atari dealership, Cave Creek Computers, and was lucky enough to find an ad for the show in PSAN, a local user group newsletter. Later on that day, I went to a user group meeting for STarbase. Derek Mihocka, of Branch Always Software, stopped by on his way to Vancouver. The user group was having a swap meet that night, and he fit right in selling copies of Quick ST. Derek told me that he was planning to test the TT with a version of Quick ST modified specially for the TT. Although my plan was to be at the show in the morning, a flat tire caused me to roll in at 3:30. I missed the crowd, but was told that there were quite a bit of users earlier. The vendors included a few dealers selling various items and several developers. Derek was selling version 2.1 of Quick ST. Cherry Fonts' Todd Johnson occupied the booth next to Derek's and was selling fonts for Calamus. And N.I. Software, which produces an educational product to teach French, was close to the TT. As you may have guessed, the TT occupied most of the people most of the time. The Atari reps said they hoped that it would be released to the general public in August (which is a distinct possibility since the STe was released close to schedule). Programs that adhere rigidly to the ST's environment work fine on the TT (see Chart II for more information about the TT). Ron Grant, who was demoing the TT, showed off some Migraph products, which ran quickly and smoothly. Having some free time, Derek tested his modified Quick ST on the TT. He was able to get it to work with noticeable speed increases (see Chart I at the end of this article). The STacy was also on display, but it seemed to get very little attention compared to the TT. The Lynx and a Mega 4 with Megafile 40 received some casual spectators. I talked to the Atari rep to confirm a rumor that Atari US and Atari Canada would be merging into Atari North America. He replied that the marketing departments would be merged into Atari North America. This may be an indicator that we will actually start to see the ST/TT pushed in terms of advertising. So, even though the show wasn't pumped, as PACE was, it did very well for the amount of advertising that was placed. It was a good solid show that made 289 users happy. In the future, the coordinators would have no problem in creating a large scale show like PACE was intended to be. The geographic location, the user group support, and other factors are on their side. But for now, it's good to see that the image and quality of Atari shows is improving, one show at a time. Chart I Derek's results of Quick ST running on the TT: w/o Quick ST no cache w/ cache TOS 1.0 STe TT TOS 1.0 STe TT Text 140 126 103 205 184 151 String 142 136 101 196 187 140 Scroll 259 148 101 398 228 155 GEM 219 125 101 289 164 133 Zoom 12.64 seconds 10.9 sec. w/ Quick ST no cache w/ cache TOS 1.0 STe TT TOS 1.0 STe TT Text 514 462 380 715 642 528 String 3022 2893 2154 4633 4436 3302 Scroll 350 201 136 380 218 148 GEM 684 390 315 875 498 403 Zoom 4.86 seconds 3.83 seconds no cache w/ cache CPU Memory 158 97 361 221 CPU Register 203 101 409 203 CPU Divide 452 101 509 114 CPU Shifts 1574 102 1734 112 Derek said that the TT's results were within a couple of seconds of the one he saw earlier at the Toronto TT unveiling. Chart II Highlights of a spec sheet on the TT from Atari Canada: * 3 New Graphics modes: 320 x 480 with 256 colors from a palette of 4096 640 x 480 with 16 colors from a palette of 4096 1280 x 960 high resolution monochrome * Stereo 8 bit PCM sound (STe compatible) * Motorola MC68030 running at 16 MHz * Motorola MC68881 Floating Point Co-Processor Socketed, so that it can be optionally upgraded to a MC68882 * 2 Megabytes RAM, expandable to 26 * SCSI and ACSI with DMA * Internal hard disk (30 MB) * SCC LAN port with DMA * 4 serial ports 2 low-speed asynchronous (up to 19.2 K baud) and 2 high-speed asynchronous/SDLC ports * Mega standards: MIDI, Parallel, Detachable keyboard (supports 3 mouse buttons) * Internal A24/D16 VME card slot * Real Time Clock with NVRAM (50 bytes of non-volatile RAM) * 1.44 MB floppy drive Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx TT030 CPU 68030 68030 68030 FPU Yes Yes Yes RAM (MB) 2 to 17 1 to 32 1 to 26 Burst Mode Yes No Yes ROM 512K 256K 512K Graphics 1280 x 480 Optional 1280 x 960 Interlaced Non-interlaced 32 colors 256 colors Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo Expansion Proprietary NuBus VME Hard Disk DMA Non-DMA DMA Floppy Disk Proprietary Proprietary PC Compatible Network No Yes Yes, DMA Serial 1 RS232 2 RS422 4 RS232 Parallel Yes No Yes MIDI No No Yes Cartridge No No Yes COMPANIES MENTIONED: Cave Creek Computers 8541 Greenwood Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 783-0933 Branch Always Software Box 2624, Station B Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 6N2 (519) 747/0386 Cherry Fonts Unit #4 - 2250 Tyner St. Port Coquitlam, B.C. Canada V3C 2Z1 Atari Canada 90 Gough Rd. Units 1 & 2 Markham, Ont., Canada (416) 479-1266 ________________________________________________________________ > ATARI'S FUTURE STR OnLine? Clear Skies and Calm Seas??? ========================= The following is a sampling of a number of networks depicting the mood of the users in general. About the future of the STe and its abilities..... Ctsy CompUserve; 21-Jun-90 22:27:15 Sb: #21048-#STE Fm: BOB DOLSON 71036,213 To: J.R. McCullough 70003,5521 (X) I just received my new STe today! It's pretty neat! MUCH improved sound but the resolutions and number of colors in low and medium res are the same as before. You do have a 4096 color palette to choose from though. I have a question about the SIMM modules on the STe though. Hope someone out there can answer it.. The question is: What kind of SIMMs are used in the STe?? I have 2-1 meg. by 9 SIMMs here but was told that the STe needs to have 1 by 8s.... Does it make a difference??? Also, I note that seemingly the only way to install the upgraded SIMM modules is to take that sticker off the bottom of the case that covers up one of the screw holes, and thus void the (90 day) warranty! Well, at least it IS easier to upgrade (I think). Also, the STe's DMA chip will not work properly with an Atari SH-204 or 205 hard drive. This is due to the Atari host adapter I am told. It will seem to work ok, but will get write errors if you use it for a short while.. I hope someone will be able to answer these questions... Also I hope an ICD Advantage Plus host adapter will work with the STe ok.... ..ED; Have no fears, the STe works just fine with all the ICD host Adapters its a shame that the older Atari 204 & 205 HDs have problems... <sigh> ...typical, so very typical. 22-Jun-90 03:40:43 Sb: #21228-STE Fm: Bob Retelle 71550,3312 To: BOB DOLSON 71036,213 The STe that I saw the innards of was upgraded by adding 1Meg x 8 SIMMs ("Macintosh" SIMMs). I think someone said that the 1Meg x 9 SIMMs would also fit (and work), but I haven't seen that myself... Yes, you assumed correctly that opening your STe to upgrade the RAM will void your warranty. Atari Corp did NOT go to SIMM modules to make things easier for the end user (although that is one unintended benefit). SIMMs can be cheaper and easier for them to install, and take up far less PC board space, allowing higher density boards to be designed. If end user upgradability had been their intention, an access "door" would have been designed into the machine. As it is, you have to break the warranty seal, open the case, take off the main RF shielding, remove the disk drive, take out the power supply and then pull the 256K SIMMs and replace them with 1Meg SIMMs... then reverse the process and reassemble all the pieces and parts. It's far easier than any other memory upgrade, and much more reliable than any of the kludges needed to upgrade earlier STs, but it's not quite the walk in a park that everyone had hoped it would be... BobR ctsy GEnie Category 14, Topic 40 Message 121 Thu Jun 21, 1990 M.KENNEDY3 at 18:44 EDT As far as I can see...there IS NO POSSIBLE WAY that Atari could offer a free upgrade to TOS 1.62 to the people in the US...I have heard that this bug exists in ALL STEs throughout the world... If Atari gave upgrade ROMS to the US...they would need to give them to everyone...it just won't happen. I don't know what the fuss is...I have had an STe for 5 months and this little bug isn't a big bother. If you have a mono monitor you rarely encounter it! (how many of you with BOTH monitors actually use medium res!) The error seems to be in the way the STe writes the desktop INF file...I could swear that sometimes when I boot with certain disks (without the patch) boot correctly to medium. I am assuming that these disks have INF files that were made on my old 1040 or the 520. No one has ever specified what the actual bug is. Is it the file or the way it reads it or writes it or what ( or or or )? Perhaps we should stop calling the US STEs 'defective'...a term like that tends to damage the machines reputation, and that's the LAST thing we need. BOB-BRODIE [Atari Corp.] posts; Mark, Check the demo library online here. I have uploaded some really nice demos of the STE capabilities online. Be warned though, the files are large... Kennedy, Thanks. I needed that. :) Mine works great, too. Lloyd, Still waiting for an address to mail the cartridge I owe ya! UPS will not deliver to a club PO box. STACE [Mark] posts; Kennedy, I totally agree that the med-res boot bug is relatively insignificant. However, seems a crying shame that it wasn't fixed and released in ROM given the extended period Atari had between the time the bug was discovered and the actual release of the US machines. Funny, I seem to remember somebody assuring us that the bug WOULD be fixed in the U.S. released machines. Mark C.F.JOHNSON posts; Mark, Yes, I remember hearing assurances that those bugs would be fixed in the STe Roms before the US release, too. In fact, wasn't one of the reasons given for the lateness of the STe's release that someone had made a mistake in Taiwan and the STe's had the old buggy ROMs installed? Sheesh. - Charles Editor note: While the actual bug in TOS 1.6 may be "insignificant", the principle of the entire matter is "extremely significant". The shipping of the STe units in the States with the 'broken TOS 1.60' clearly demonstrates the attitude Atari has toward this market. Only a short time ago the userbase in the USA was vociferously assured that the STe units destined for the USA market would indeed have the 'fixed TOS1.62' installed. After all, "Atari wanted to start off on the right foot". Like the stripes of a tiger, the past performance and attitude of the executives at Atari are difficult to change, the machines have been shipped throughout the USA with the 'broken TOS 1.60. Oh well, so much for the new beginning. Three to five months from now the dealers and distributors will have their hands full with folks wanting the better TOS version 1.62. And they, also going by Atari's past performance, will have to PAY for it. About the future prospect of reliable service and accessability..... STACE [Mark] posts; Dan and Nathan, Let's say that you just bought a brand new Ford Taurus. You quickly discover that you LOVE the car. You feel it is probably one of the finest made autos you have ever driven. You feel that you got great value for the price you paid and are very happy with your purchase. Wouldn't you be somewhat discouraged if you discovered a couple years later that there weren't any more dealers left to repair your vehicle? Wouldn't you begin to worry about getting replacement parts? Wouldn't you be upset if it turned out it was not any particular dealer's fault why all the dealerships disappeared, but rather, it was the fault of Ford for not supplying product, support, advertising, etc...etc? Wouldn't you start thinking that maybe you should buy a different company's product next time? Yes...until my ST breaks, burns in a house fire, or is stolen it will still be a VERY useful and powerful computer. In my opinion, one of the BEST computers you can buy!! Easy to use. Fun to use. Fun to show off! However, given Atari's current track record with keeping promises and meeting dealer's needs I find it HIGHLY unlikely that I will purchase another Atari computer in the future. We use to have 10 places to purchase ST computers here in San Diego (4 Federateds and 5 full service dealers and 1 minor dealer) and now we have basically 1 full service dealer left. A couple of the other dealers still carry some software but they are not ordering anything new...just selling out on what they have. These former Atari dealers all sing the same tune... they hated dealing with Atari Corp! And, lastly, to anyone thinking that we "complainers" should just dry up and blow away I leave you with this.... A MAJOR part of Atari's success (however small) was partly born out of Atari enlisting the User Groups and end Users as its "sales force". It was repeatedly stated by more than one Atari executive that WE should spread the word about Atari computers. I did just that! Atari, in my opinion, has stepped on my neck. At any rate...by being one of Atari's "foot soldiers" I believe I have already paid for the right to complain! Mark S.COLLER [Steve] posts; Can Atari make a comeback in the U.S.? After having pronounced Atari dead of self-inflicted wounds a couple of weeks ago, I would now like to offer some suggestions on what Atari needs to do to resurrect itself in the U.S. market place. To begin, Atari management needs to set some priorities. The first two being: (1) Product Availability (2) Dealer Relations. Product Availability: -------------------- Management needs to pull out whatever stops are necessary to ensure an adequate supply of products for the dealers. If Atari does not have products to sell to the dealers then dealers do not have products to sell to the consumers hence no one in the chain is going to make any money. And Atari management will be managing a phantom corporation. Dealer Relations: ---------------- At this point in time Atari should not be attempting to sign up any new dealers. Instead they need to hire Dealer Service Representatives whose sole purpose will be to contact, in person, every authorized dealer in the country. It will be the job of these Reps to find out what problems the dealer is having/has had with Atari and to solve these problems. To do this Atari management must be fully committed to solving these dealer concerns. Talk is cheap and the dealer network is tired of hearing just talk. They will only believe that these Reps can do what they say they can when the dealers see concrete results. One thing that the dealers are going to want to see from the Reps is PRODUCT. They do not want to here that the next shipment will arrive in a month. They want to see systems on their shelves. Once Atari has proved to its existing dealers that it really means business, then Atari will be a position to attract new dealerships. If the effort is made to sign on new dealers without addressing the concerns of the present dealers any marketing plan will have the net result of spitting into the wind. Working parallel to the Dealer Reps should be a similar program that is devoted to the developers. Atari has a lot of fences to mend here, too. And again, you must address the concerns of those who are still on board as developers before you have a prayer of attracting new ones. The proposed 520ST Advantage Program should not be done through the mass market channel. Rather it should be done through the existing dealer network. Why? Because if this program is turned over to the local dealers they will see that Atari really is serious about addressing their concerns. Also, the local dealers are the ones that are qualified to answer questions that the Advantage Buyer will have about the system. The local dealer is also going to be the Authorized Service Center when the Advantage Buyer has problems with the Hardware. If the local dealers are part of the Advantage Program they will also be more motivated to promote the ST system. Putting the Advantage Package in the mass market channel MAY put more systems in the market faster, but by doing so Atari will win a battle but lose the war. What few dealers are left will abandon ship overnight. The local dealers need the leverage in the marketplace that the Advantage Program will give them. There has been a reported change in the management structure at Atari Computers. Now we will just have to see if they are serious about the U.S. market, or still attempting to spit in the wind. Steve Coller President, Central Missouri Atari Group Columbia, MO GEnie: S.Coller CIS: 73637,1235 _____________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ STReport? The Band Marches On.... ======================= THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur Concept by Glenn Gorman The price of Atari stock went up 1/8 of a point on Monday, and stayed the same on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it went down 1/4 of a point, and went down 1/8 of a point on Thursday. On Friday, the price of Atari stock stayed the same. Finishing up the week at 5 1/8 points, the price of Atari Stock is down 1/4 of a point since the last report. Apple Stock was up 1 1/4 points from Friday, June 08, 1990. Commodore Stock was down 3/8 of a point from 6/08/90. IBM Stock was up 1 5/8 points from 6/08/90. Stock Report for Week of 6/11/90 to 6/15/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|------------|-------------|-------------|------------|-------------| Atari|5 1/2 + 1/8|5 1/2 ---- |5 1/4 - 1/4|5 1/8 - 1/8|5 1/8 ----| | | | | | 60,500 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| CBM |8 1/2 + 1/8|8 3/8 - 1/8|8 1/8 - 1/4|7 7/8 - 1/4| 8 + 1/8| | | | | | 49,600 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| Apple| 39 + 3/4|40 1/2 +1 1/2|39 3/4 - 3/4|39 3/4 ----|39 1/2 -1/4| | | | | |1,287,000 Sls| -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| IBM |119 7/8 |120 1/4 +5/8|121 3/8 |120 7/8 -1/2|120 3/8 - 1/2| | +1 1/8| | +1 1/4| |2,111,900 Sls| -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. '----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day. ___________________________________________________________ > NE ATARIFEST'90 STR SHOW NEWS? ============================= NEW ENGLAND ATARIFEST '90 ========================= OCTOBER 27, 1990 9:00am - 4:00pm University of Massachusetts Boston Harbor Campus Boston, Ma. 02125 By Kevin Champagne I was involved with the aborted attempt at planning an AtariFest in 1988 with The Boston Computer Society's Atari User Group; a lot of work by a lot of people came to nothing. We are determined that this time will be different. I would have been the first person to tell anyone who would listen that the time had past to hold an AtariFest in the New England area. The stumbling blocks were just too great; the dealer base had shrunk drastically, the unavailability of product was sure to have caused a shrinkage of the user base, and developers were dropping out of the market in droves. Yet there were positives. This may actually be "The Year of Atari", as some of the long announced products were finally actually being shipped. If there is to be a U.S. presence for Atari at all, it almost has to happen this year. What better way to help foster this presence but to hold an AtariFest and do our part to bolster the local Atari market. Initially, the AtariFest was actually just a User Group get together to host a visit by Bob Brodie, Atari's Manager of User Group Support. Mr. Brodie was invited to the Boston area by Norman Boucher of the South Shore Atari Group and subsequently by Jerry Feldman of the BCS/Atari group. Bob accepted the invitation, but was unable to fit Boston into his schedule before September or October. It was finally decided that Bob would visit on the last weekend in October. A few days after Brodie confirmed his Boston visit, Harry Steele, the system operator of the BCS Atari BBS (617 396-4607), visited this author at his home. We were working on the May issue of the BCS/Atari Newsletter, as well as planning some strategy for attracting former members back to the user group. Evidently Harry had been doing some private thinking on the subject, as out of the blue he presented the outlines of a plan for a complete AtariFest, to be held in conjunction with Bob's October visit. Harry even suggested a viable meeting place, UMass Boston. Being a born pessimist, I brought up every possible problem and roadblock against the plan that I could imagine, but Harry was not just persistent, he had also done his homework, and countered every argument that I presented against the AtariFest with a viable reason to hold it. After an hour or so of this, I finally began to come around to Harry's way of thinking. He had convinced me that the idea was workable, now it was up to us to get a group of volunteers together and convince them as well. Harry and I agreed to invite four people each to join an 'executive committee' of sorts. This committee would form the nucleus of an even larger group of volunteers as time passed. For now, with time being an issue, the smaller the group, the quicker things would get done. One of the problems I originally foresaw was an inability to attract vendors or dealers without a professional organization backing us. Harry suggested, and I agreed, that the only way that we could solve this problem was to get the support of The Boston Computer Society. With the BCS's sponsorship, we would be assured of the financial and administrative underpinnings necessary for an undertaking of this sort. With this in mind, Harry invited Jerry Feldman, the director of the BCS/ST User Group, Bill Niemi, Treasurer of the BCS/ST User Group, and Don Burgess, Co-Director of the BCS's 8-Bit Atari Group to join the executive committee. I invited Dana Jacobson and Norman Boucher of the South Shore Atari Group, and Ed George, a long time local Atari activist. Ed declined due to time constraints, but Norman and Dana joined the group and agreed to attend the first ExeComm meeting, which was held at the BCS Resource Center conference room on April 30th. Also in attendance at this meeting was Jeff Lomika, President of the NaVAUS group (and proprietor of TiBit Software Engineering, publishers of the Good Back-Up Utility), and John Koumoutseas, proprietor of Syntronics Computer Center, who would be representing the local dealers. These nine people presently form the Executive Committee of the New England AtariFest '90. Also attending the first meeting was Mary Ryan, a member of the BCS's Member Services Committee, the group that would determine whether the BCS would agree to support the 'Fest. That first meeting saw Harry and I prepared with draft copies of a letter to Vendors, dealers and User Groups inviting them to attend the 'Fest. Much was accomplished; Dana came to the meeting with a draft press release that was approved by the membership. Norman came prepared with three different draft electronic press releases, one of which was approved for immediate release. Many possible problem areas were raised and addressed, and all left the meeting with the feeling that this thing could really happen. In the weeks following the meeting, the press release was sent to all ST related periodicals, the electronic press release has been uploaded to BBS's and electronic services all over the country, and the final form of the vendor, dealer, and user group letters was completed. On May 21st, the BCS Member Services Committee met and approved our budget and officially agreed to sponsor the New England AtariFest '90! The invitations to all known developers and vendors nationwide have been mailed, the floor plan and layout of the display area has been detailed, and we have already received confirmations from a number of attendees. On May 30th, the second ExeComm meeting was held at the BCS Resource Center conference room. In attendance were Dana Jacobson, myself, Jeff Lomika, Jerry Feldman, and Norman Boucher. Harry Steele had the audacity to have to attend his son's graduation, and thus informed us well in advance that he would be unable to attend. Also missing the meeting were John Koumoutseas, Bill Niemi, and Don Burgess. Don has since resigned from the committee, as his wife is expecting a baby, and he is unable to give the time required for participation. Many of the smaller issues that will need to be addressed as the summer progresses were raised at the second meeting. Norman was 'volunteered' to assume responsibility for all security issues at the show, and Dana Jacobson assumed the mantle of publisher and editor of the AtariFest show program. As of June 17, the following attendees have confirmed their participation in the 'Fest: Atari Corporation Fast Technology Gadgets by Small Gribnif Software TidBit Software Engineering The Bit Bucket Computer Zone Syntronics Computer Center SSAG VAST NaVAUS BCS/Atari Group We expect to issue an update with considerably larger participation in the coming weeks. We have set up a New England AtariFest '90 hotline. This line has the latest confirmed participation figures, as well as any other pertinent 'Fest info. The number is (617) 527-4952. If anyone would like additional information regarding the AtariFest, or would like a vendor packet, please let me know. I can be reached by modem at the BCS/Atari BBS at (617) 396-4607, or drop a note in the mail to my attention to: New England AtariFest '90, C/O The Boston Computer Society, One Center Plaza, Boston, MA 02108. I look forward to hearing from you. ____________________________________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL? Sayin' it like it is..... ===================== - Sunnyvale, CA. PORTFOLIO TO BE BUNDLED WITH PARALLEL I-FACE ------------- Interesting for Portfolio fans, maybe, is a new promotion upcoming that will include the parallel interface. This device allows the user to interface the Portfolio with MS-DOS units only. At least now, the Atari exec who is busy promoting the ST computer lines will be able to hook up his Portfolio to the "386" on HIS desk..... - New York City, NY ATARI INTROS EDUCATION PC NETWORK! ----------------- As has been Atari's standard operating procedure, they have introduced an educational networking system in Montreal, Canada. "We're serious about computers in education. We're making an aggressive move towards having ATARI computers in schools all across Canada", explains G. Earle general manager of Atari Canada. The network, called ATARI GemNet, has been approved for Ontario schools by the Ministry of Education. The network interfaces with the XT, AT/286, 386sx and 386 machines. - Philadelphia, PA. NATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS STOCKING ATARI PRODUCTS ---------------- Remember when? Well here we go again folks, verified by ALMO Distributing and Southern Distributors, are stocking Atari products including the STe, SC1224 Color Monitors, SM124 Monochrome Monitors and Megafile 30 units. About three years ago, these types of distribution networks were frowned upon, well it looks like they may just be the "salvation" of Atari! Its great to see that someone at Atari is finally waking up and smellingthe coffee. __________________________________________________________________ > Hard Disks STR InfoFile? Affordable Mass Storage.... ======================= NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). -ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE- (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) (all cables and connectors installed) * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADVANTAGE+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * 51mb #SGN4951 519.95 65mb #SG60101 649.95 80mb #SGN296 709.95 100mb #SG84011D 839.95 120mb #SGN120FH 989.95 120mb #SG120DD 1128.95 170mb #SGN2962 1369.95 260mb #SG60102 1849.95 WE HAVE A COMPLETE LINE OF 3.5 LOW PROFILE HARD DRIVES for USE IN MEGA ST COMPUTERS AND RELATED CONFIGURATIONS. 20mb #AI020SC 379.95 30mb #AIO3OSC 419.95 50mb #AI050SC 449.95 65mb #AI065SC 499.95 85mb #AI085SC $559.95 >>> ALL ABCO DRIVES ARE HIGH SPEED UNITS <<< (500 - 600k per sec @ 23 -33ms) CALL FOR SUPER SAVINGS ON ALL OUR OTHER CUSTOM UNITS FROM 30mb @ $419.00! Ask about our "REBATE SPECIALS" --==*==-- SHIPPING AND INSURANCE INCLUDED ============================================ * SYQUEST 44MB (#555)>> ABCO "44?" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADVANTAGE PLUS H/A - ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! >> SPECIAL NOW ONLY __$849.00__ << *** SPECIAL SYQUEST OFFER!! *** ORDER YOUR CUSTOM SYQUEST UNIT NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT! ***** for $50.00 LESS! ***** -> DO IT YOURSELF BARE SYQUEST UNITS $600.00ea 2 for $1100.00 Syquest Mechanism - 2 year warranty * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED $1539.00 * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $1179.00 30mb SQG38 $1099.00 65mb SQG09 $1239.00 85mb SQG96 $1299.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat *********************************************************************** > A "Quotable Quote"? ================= "COMMON SENSE IS AN ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, NEVER TAUGHT... .....ONLY LEARNED FROM EXPERIENCE" ... Franklin -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STReport? "Your Independent News Source" June 22, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright = 1990 No.6.25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, STReport? CPU/STR? or ST Report? . Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. The contents, at the time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The editors, contributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. --------------------------------------------------------------------------