CompuServe Messages

Here's an interesting tidbit from the 10/27 EET (used without permission). It's a clip from a viewpoint piece by George Morrow (I assume the George Morrow of Morrow Micro Designs; they don't say specifically). In his writings he says "… Jack Tramiel and his company represent an enigma in the computer business… both the hardware and the operating system [of the Atari ST] are left-handed to everything else. And that's not all. The tales of horror that suppliers tell of their dealings with Tramiel is the stuff from which legends are made." Fair enough. Later, though, he has this to say: "… there's one prediction I'm willing to make about Jack: If he's able to raise a bundle of cash by taking Atari public, he'll use some of it to gain control of Commodore and fire the bumbs who forced him out a few years back." Now you can make whatever comments you want about his prediction of whether JT would try a takeover of Commodore, whether he'd fire his old bosses if he were successful, whether the ST is "left-handed to everything else", and whether the "horror stories" are true. In fact we've all discussed these issues time and again here in the forum. The real reason I posted this is not spelled out in black and white. Follow me for a moment: It is Mr. Morrow's opinion that the ST is "left-handed", I.E., a rather non-standard product with questionable design features (his opinion, not mine). He also comments about JT treating his dealers poorly (again, his statement, not mine). Finally, he uses the phrase "those bums" to label the Commodore execs who, in his words, "forced him out". Now, the conclusion: It seems to me that Mr. Morrow is saying that it is quite alright to design a computer with debateable features and operating system, and even to mishandle your dealers (the context of the article was "as long as you keep the customers happy), and that Commodore should never have let JT go. I'm interested to see what comments you folks have on this outlook.