#C=UK buy-out
19 messages in this thread
Unless C= bought the Atari U.K. division, the story also errs in that
respect also. Atari marketed the ST series in competition with C='s
Amiga. However, they are still an independent business from the Commodore
"giant".
C= bought Amiga out from under the nose of Atari, which prompted a
lawsuit; and this may have lead to the writer's confusion.
>> C= bought Amiga out from under the nose of Atari, …
One more time – Atari was in NO WAY interested in the Amiga other than maybe
looking for patent infringement (probably due to the fact that the chief
designers of the Amiga nee Lorraine were at one time employed by Atari). At the
point that C= was purchasing Amiga Inc., Atari (the Tramiels) was already in
the process of designing the ST. Their replies at the time to queries about the
Amiga were on the order of – It would be too expensive to produce.
Weren't ANY of you guys reading Atari mags in the early eighties? Did EVERYONE
here but me have subscriptions to Transactor?
Tony
In the beginning there was the Atari 800, then the XL and XE. And now, their
REAL big brother – the AMIGA!
I read Atari mags, as well as Amiga mags.
Shortly before the C= buyout, Atari signed and agreement with Amiga to
provide funding for development of the Lorraine. When C= came in with a
buyout, Atari filed suit claiming they had a prior arraingement with Amiga
corp.
AB <<Shortly before the C= buyout, Atari signed and agreement with Amiga to
provide funding for development of the Lorraine. When C= came in with a
buyout, Atari filed suit claiming they had a prior arraingement with Amiga
corp.>>
From interviews from the Amiga designers, I read…
When Amiga Corp ran out of money, they were trying to selling the compnay to
highest bidder. Atari, thought they were the only bidder, and during the time,
gave Amiga a half million dollar loan with the custom chips as the collateral.
If Amiga Corp failed to payback the load at the end of the month, Atari got
chips. It appeared that Atari only wanted the custom chips, and were dragging
their feet about buying Amiga Corp, at least at a decent price.
Commodore made a bid that Amiga Corp could accept, which Amiga Corp used to
payback Atari's loan. Atari, couldn't claim the chips as collateral with the
loan paid, and Atari lost the bid.
– Ron. (People who say cats always land on their feet…
just don't know how to throw them right.)
That's about what I heard. That Atari wasn't ready to buy outright, that
they thought stalling could get them a better deal with a little seed
money.
After C= jumped in, Atari claimed that they had a prior arraingement with
Amiga Corp., and that C= was jumping in on their turf. I'm not sure if
Amiga ever acutally received the money from Atari, or not. I know they
had signed papers with Atari not too long before C= jumped in.
What's "The Lorraine"?
Fred.
Frederic Botton from Paris, France
fbotton@cix.compulink.co.uk
"Amiga" was the company, "Lorraine" was the designation for the game/computer
they were building.
–Jim
Tony,
You're wrong…as a matter of fact, the Tramiels sued Commodore in an
attempt to obtain the Amiga technology. There was an out of court settlement.
Prior to the Tramiels, Warner Bros (who owned Atari while the Tramiels
were still with Commodore) had bought an option to purchase the Amiga. Their
option expired and Commodore snapped Amiga up.
Don
> Prior to the Tramiels, Warner Bros (who owned Atari while the
>Tramiels were still with Commodore) had bought an option to purchase the
>Amiga. Their option expired and Commodore snapped Amiga up.
Whenever I think about the history of the Amiga, I wonder what would have
happened if Amiga Inc. could have come up with some money and remained
independent. As a small, hungry company with a superior product I think Amiga
might have taken off in manner similar to the Apple story.
._ _ _ INTERNET: mshea@math.arizona.edu
| | |ichael _>hea COMPUSERVE: 76665,3360
That's often crossed my mind too. If they just could've stayed independant long
enough to produce enough saleable Amigas the story would be a lot different!
But, the past is the past and we still don't know if she'll even survive at all
(except on our desktops and in our hearts).
Robb
>> I wonder what would have happened if Amiga Inc. could have come up with some
money and remained independent…
Some observers say that Amiga Corp's original object was to simply build THE
killer game machine, nothing more. I think you'd find a wide variety of
opinions, even in the original devlopment team, as to what the Amiga would have
been without Commodore stepping in. There's not doubt that Commodore's push
towards building a computer with general capabilities was not viewed with joy
by many team members. But (as they say about aging) it wasn't so bad when you
considered the alternative.
–Jim
The legends abound, but the original premise for the Amiga to obtain
backers was to build a hot game machine.
Supposedly, according to one of the more popular legends, the original
developers wanted to build a computer, but figured a game machine was
easier to sell to investors, and so they pitched it that way, intending to
develop a computer all along.
I remeber the Lorraine being shown before C= bought it, back when the had
a huge setup under the table to drive the displays. At that time they
were talking computer, as opposed to game console. There were several
write-ups on the Lorraine in Byte, as work progressed.
The histories I have read say that the orginal backers of Amiga Inc did
not want a computer but a games console. The designers apparently sneaked
computer like features in without telling their backers. If the company
had not been taken over it is unlikely they would have been able to sneak
in a keyboard unnoticed.
Peter Wade
Autopiloting from London, England
They probably would have kicked some serious butt.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
>They probably would have kicked some serious butt.
I sure think so.
._ _ _ INTERNET: mshea@math.arizona.edu
| | |ichael _>hea COMPUSERVE: 76665,3360
Of course, if you gave me enough money, I'd probably do OK, too. 🙂
Unfortunately, the way the world seems to work is that if you have enough clue
about how to do the right thing, you don't have enough of the "right" stuff to
hoard huge sums of money.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Slimey though they may have been, you had to hand it to the Tramiels for
managing to produce the Atari ST on short notice after failing to acquire the
Amiga technology. Of course, if Digital Research's GEM interface hadn't been
adaptable, they'd have been a couple of years getting it out the door.
Ron,
They didn't produce the ST on short notice. Tramiel had been working
(actually…folks working for him) on the ST for some time prior to the
Atari/Amiga/Commodore buyout stuff.
Tramiel was going to drop the ST if they succeeded in buying the Amiga,
but since they lost out…the ST project continued.
Don
If the Atari mags got their info from the Tramiels, that would explain what you
read. But not, alas, add much to it's veracity. Just how did your Atari mag
explain Atari's lawsuit against CBM for snatching Amiga from their claws?
("Oh, we were never interested at all, we just tried to take it over out of
curiosity?") Yeah, that's it. Atari needed to control the company to check
into patent infringement. (snicker)
-Karl