#EMPLANT: a scam?
16 messages in this thread
Hi,
I ordered a Utilities Unlimited Emplant for company evaluation today…and
have some interesting information about the (non?) product.
Utilities Unlimited claims that they will be shipping the product in 25
days or less; the boards are being fabricated right now, and are due back
within that time frame. They also promised to not charge my card until the
boards ship…I will be verifying that.
Of course, I asked them where one gets the needed ROM in order to
use their miracle product…their reply was Shreve Systems. In case you
are not familiar with Shreve, they are a major mail order supplier of new
and reconditioned Mac parts.
They told me that "we do not stock ROMs for any machine besides the
Plus…don't know where you would find such a thing".
Hmmm….
I also called Pre-Owned electronics, and they pretty much told me
the same thing that Shreve did. These ROMs are not commonly available.
Lastly…the one sure way to get the ROMs is to buy a system board
from one of these guys. Shreve is advertising a MacII board for *$899*…
Sooo…even if Emplant does work as advertised (and I know that
most folks are at least a bit skeptical), getting the needed ROM is going
to prove *very* difficult, indeed.
Lastly…don't be surprised if there is an included utility to put
the ROM image on disk. I could just imagine a whole user-group going in on
a Mac motherboard, and pirating the ROM…or, having Mac ROM images showing
up on Amiga bulletin boards.
If anyone has purchased one of these things, or has some further
insight on it, please respond!
Jonathan
Jonathan, I wonder, say if you have a set of MAC 128K roms, could use them
as an core exchange to purchase the new ones?
Chris
Chris,
I don't think that you will be able to get the color ROMs no matter what
you have to "upgrade".
Jonathan
– via Whap!
I just back from MacWorld in Boston. IIx ROMS are readily available in
Canada and Apple dealers (most) will swap your 128k ROMS for the 512k
breed. They will be had. Oh yeah, util. unl. *IS* providing a ROM reader
to disk. Sounds like there will be plenty of buyers.. mostly hacking it
with pirated ROMS….
-Jonathan
Jonathan,
Hey! I guessed right!
If Emplant does what it is supposed to do…we are in for some terrible
trouble. Think about it…how would the average Amigan react if some PC
owner or MacHead was stealing the contents of our favorite OS? This will
probably be the first instance of widespread, cross-platform piracy!
Just think…the Amiga is looked down upon by most computer owning folks
that have heard of it (especially if they have never seen one). Now, they
can scapegoat us as well….when Mac ROM images and Mac software starts
showing up on Amiga BBS's.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan…
The Kickstart ROM image wouldn't do anyone much good in the task of
trying to emulate an Amiga. The custom chips are the problem when thinking
of an Amiga emulator. You'd have to by those too, I imagine, if you wanted
to make an Amiga emulator based on a 68000 processor. You'd probably need a
RISC style processor if you wanted to emulate the custom chips through
software, if you couldn't get the custom chips.
In the end, it'd be much cheaper to just buy an Amiga.
Jim
Jim,
I understand that it would be very difficult to design an Amiga emulator; I
was just trying to make a point about what a segment of Amigans are about
to do with the Mac firmware.
Jonathan
Jonathan (SCOOP) Hirschman-
Thanks for all the great research and info! Keep us up to date.
// Michael
\X/ …on AutoPilot
Michael,
I'm looking forward to getting the Emplant in…and of course, I have two
macs lying around to (temporarily) pull the ROMs out of.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Good luck Jonathan ! Utilities Unlimited claim that getting the ROMS would
be no problem is pretty indicative of the company in general. Lots of hot
air and exaggerated claims for a half baked product. Their advertising
always sounds to good to be true. But so good that if the product only does
a fraction of what is claimed, it's worth the price. The emplant could
possibly work, but I'm not holding my breath. I hope that pioneers like you
keep sceptics like me informed about this product.
– Richard
Richard,
It isn't any sweat for me…my company allows me a research budget, to see
what new products might be useful. I tend not to abuse it, but it Emplant
really worked, it would get a *WHOLE* mess of Amigas in the back door.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
I have been waiting for the Emplant to ship now for a while. I was told
(on their BBS (602) 453-9767) that they are only waiting for FCC aproval.
I've tried to find ROMS from various used Mac places with the same response
as Jonathan. I've also been told by Shreve and other Mac dealers that I
could order the ROMS *BUT*, I would have to exchange the old ROMS of the
exact Mac model!!
I'm not ready to give up on the Emplant (why would a company advertise
something like that that would surely destroy their credability?), but I
too am very skeptical that ROMS will be available.
Jonathan may be right. We may see many "wooden legged, patch-over-one-eye"
people 😉
I really wish I could get a strait answer out of Utilities Unlimited.
Matt
Matt:
I'd love to see a system like Emplant. But then again, my wife has beenm
bugging me to clean up the garage for two years now, and I keep telling her
that I'm "waiting for FCC approval" <g>
Michael
You are wondering why they would do something that would ruin their
credibility?
Huh? I guess you missed something. They ruined their credibilty years ago.
I think they are the flakiest outfit still in buisiness. It is normal for
them to advertise something they don't have or that doesn't work.
They're nice guys though 🙂
–Paul Still on AutoPilot
Jonathan,
I don't know if I would consider it funny or not. I do know that this is
at least the third time that the date has been pushed back. Originally I
believe it was scheduled to come out no later than mid July. Then it was
the first week in August, and then Aug 15. (I guess this makes it the
fourth time then).
Alan
Alan,
I hope that everyone paid by credit card…because mass chargebacks would
probably but any scamster out of business.
Jonathan
– via Whap!