#Amiga CD32
12 messages in this thread
Betty,
I think the CD32 could be a watershed for Commodore. If it can repeat the
success of the 64, The Amiga might survive.
Pete Jones, flying on AutoPilot from Brussels, Belgium
I hope you are right about CD32, but I think CBM blew it a long
time ago. Why, because they had a superior machine and failed to
market it and in the mean time, the competitors have caught up to a
degree, although I still think they are inferior.
If I were CBM, with the release of the A2000 I would have really
gone after IBM Clone users. I would have done it by two main methods.
Advertising and by practically giving away bridgeboards. The should
have sold the puppies at either break even or maybe even a loss. They
could have advertised you were getting two computers for the price of
one, and this might of offset in peoples minds the higher price of
Amiga as compared to clones. They could have made up the BB losses in
increased sales, the software base would have expanded and like an
avalanche, Ami would have established a market share at least as good
as the Mac's.
And I don't think it is too late to do something like this. I sure
hope the stockholder movement has some effect. Even though I am a
poor grad. student, I am going to buy a few shares so I might have a
vote or two. I encourage everyone else to do the same.
>They could have advertised you were getting two computers for the
price of one
How about THREE computers in one! U.U. has a deal going where they
will supply 5000 Emplants a month to C= U.K. It looks like every 4000
sold in the U.K. will come with Emplant installed! With Emplant both
MAC and (eventually) PC emulation will be possible.
Paul-
Yup, Jim at UU told me the same thing. Recently I heard that UU got the first
PO for 5000 units!
-Jonathan
if compatibility with either the Mac or IBM-compatible realms were
an issue in the Amiga market, the machine would have sold quite long
ago.
<< if compatibility with either the Mac or IBM-compatible realms were an
issue in the Amiga market, the machine would have sold quite long ago. >>
I do not think this is true. The problem has almost always been that
for the price of a BridgeBoard, you could buy a complete IBM clone with
monitor and even some software thrown in. As early as the beginning of
this year this was true. For everthing I put into setting up my Amiga with
a 486SLC BB, I could have bough a 486SX and maybe even a DX machine. That
is why I started this by saying CBM should have been willing to break even
or take a loss on the BB's.
The main reason people buy clones is that they are cheap and there is
alot of software around. Amigas sold under my strategy would not be as
cheap as clones, but the price differential could be kept low enough to be
attractive when essential free IBM compatiblity is thrown in.
Paul,
Why doesn't CBM America do something like this. BTW, does the Emplant
have room for more than one ROM so you can have MAC and IBM emmulation off
the same card. Also, could both emmulations run at the same time (probably
not).
Mike
You plug the MAC rom into emplant (there are a variety of sockets to
fit a variety of rom types), run a program that puts the rom image on
disk, and then the emulation runs from the rom image. So you only need to
actual roms for the initial installation. After that you can put them away
in some safe location. Jim says the PC emulation wil not require any
roms.
BTW I gather from what Jim says that in Europe MAC roms are freely
available (something to do with consumer laws over there) so installing
Emplant in alot of 4000s in no problem I guess?
…AutoPilot Engaged…
-Paul-
Paul,
Oh, I see. I wish I could afford an Emplant right now..
Mike
Michael,
One hopeful sign here in Belgium is that Commodore has engaged the
services of a professional PR agency for the launch of the CD32, rather
than handling it itself!
Pete Jones, flying on AutoPilot from Brussels, Belgium
Michael,
as I keep pointing out, as do others, to go after the IBM-clone
market requires money. Money to advertise, money to seed various
software development firms (i.e. bribe them to support your
platform), money to pay off the media. I've been tracking Commodore
for quite a while, given my investment in an extremely early A1000,
and they've never had that kind of money. Whether you want to blame
that on the owners, the executive types, or whatever, the money has
never been there.
I'm quite suspicious of those that say the CD32 will be marketed
well as this bears no resemblence whatsover to past marketing
pracitices. If it is marketed well, I wonder how far CBU went into
debt.
Well, did Apple have all the money they needed when they started.
There are people out there willing to take high risks with their money
for the hope of a windfail return on investment. Also, CBM might have
had to make some hard decisions on cutbacks in other areas to come up
with the capital.
One thing I firmly believe, is that given half a marketing chance,
the superior technology of the Amiga would have been recognized by
the computer market, and the Amiga would have taken off.
I sure wish that Amiga Inc. could have just held out long enough to
get the A1000 on the market and started making a little money. A
small company like that has little to loose in taking risks, and
everything to gain. When CBM bought them out, you had a well
established company with a strong interest in preserving its previous
gains and less willing to take the risks that could have catapults
the Amiga to the very top.