CompuServe Messages

Kevin, Hmmm… I think I am going to disagree. Your point about "What the industry needs is another C64 or A500 to win the hearts of three classes…" makes me wonder a couple of things. 1. Can we really recapture rapture? Commodore spent it's dying breath attempting to re-create the C64. If you think about it the C64 is a once in a industry's lifetime product. How many products can you think of since the C64 that would qualify as the success of the C64 as fast as the C64 became popular? You can't say PC or Mac. The sales figures had a steady and slow growth through many different generations of product. What the C64 did was send Commodore down the road to the fast buck and the quarterly vision. If Commodore had focused on the long term, things would have been different. Commodore had three things going for them that caused the C64 boom. 1. The TIME was RIGHT. 2. Power without the price 3. State of the Art Technology The people who use computers today are not the same type of people who were looking at computers in the early 80s. The fascination in most cases is gone… computers are not considered a utility item or game system. The "age" of the home computer has grown up. The people are better educated and it takes a million times more now to impress someone than it did in 1985 or before. On to point #2. 🙂 The corporate structure of Commodore kept the second from ever happening again. Not sure you know this, but did you know that in order for a direct Commodore dealer to get a product he had to place an order with Commodore Business Machines (Commodore US). Commodore US, who had purchased inventory from Commodore International, added their profit margin on top of the margin Commodore International made on each box. By the time the dealer adds his 20-30% you have an expensive product on your hands. Dealers had no way to keep the price down. Commodore was 'cashing' in. It was fun while it lasted eh? Commodore should have taken the lead that it had with the Amiga back in 1985 and immediately start work on the next generation of the product. I am not talking A500/A2000 either. I think A500/A2000 should have been produced, but not two years after the introduction of the A1000. I guess what I am saying is that the mistake the Medhi Ali made in trying to force Commodore into the the repeat of the 64 days is the mistake you are making. The best way to stay in business is to understand the business you are in. This is something Commodore never did understand. Now before someone out there says that I am negative about the Amiga. Please understand me. I am only negative about Commodore. It is my deepest wish that the Amiga survives Commodore. I think there is a good chance that the Amiga once again will prove to be the unpredictable force if it survives Commodore. How many computer systems survive the death of the manufacturer? -mark= Otto Pilot Engaged..