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#Commodore layoffs
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Consider that the company had just been through a major management
reorganization as Tramiel was booted. Then there was a major acquisition of
a new computer. Sales of prior computers were declining sharply. The
company is operating on a tight financial leash. They launch a MAJOR new
computer with style and support, bring up sales of the 64, launch the 128 for
cheap bucks (which, third party software aside, shames the IIe) and get the
banks to kick in behind them with big credit for a year. Then they emulate
the IBM in software, develop a sidecar to run full speed IBM as a window
within multitasking. Finally, during coffee breaks, they bring up the
Ranger. What do you want from them? What has Apple or IBM done during the
same period except live off early fat from the days when they were good? The
only mistakes I've seen have been in CBM's inability to crack the bad news
stereotype that the press (present company excluded) keeps using as an easy
angle on a story and in CBM's inexplicably bad Amiga advertising (though
recent stuff has been much better, in my judgement. Regards, Peter
Do you *really* want to know what Commodore has done wrong?
(1) They had a marvelous third-party developer rep (Caryn Havis) at Los Gatos
(i.e., she was an Amigoid. In fact, she's now RJ Mical's wife.) They took
that responsibility away from her and turned it over to someone (who shall
remain nameless) who they proceeded to alienate scores, nay, hundreds of
third-party developers. [Oops, that's "then proceeded".]
(2) They wasted millions upon millions of dollars in an unfocused,
ill-conceived advertising campaign, then refused to spend the relatively
small amounts necessary to put in an appearance at COMDEX/Fall and
CES/January, losing tremendous credibility among developers and dealers.
(3) They put the Amiga out on the market far too soon, with unfinished system
software and inefficient (in production terms) hardware design, creating
problems all along the pipeline.
(4) By rushing the Amiga to market, they managed to position it outside of
the two major markets, home/education and business. It was too expensive for
the home/education market and didn't have the right hardware/software (such
as a decent 80 column, 25-line word-processing package on a pleasant-to-read
display) to crack the business market.
(5) They have consistently ignored the pleas and advice of the folks who
designed the Amiga; said folks have had to sit back and wince as they have
watched Commodore seriously mismanage the marketing of a machine that they
spend three years developing.
I *like* the Amiga, a whole lot. And when I first saw it at the Amiga
Developers' Conference over a year ago, I turned to a friend and said, "The
only thing that could cause this machine to fail is Commodore itself." It
has been frustrating watching that fear come true. No, I am not writing off
the Amiga, but Commodore's track record doesn't fill me with confidence.
I will end on an upbeat note by saying that Commodore has been making some
right moves lately, such as relieving the unnamed person above of all 3rd
party development duties and turning them over to Terry Ishida, an Amigoid at
Los Gatos (I understand he's using Caryn as an assistant). But they've
Do you *really* want to know what Commodore has done wrong?
(1) They had a marvelous third-party developer rep (Caryn Havis) at Los Gatos
(i.e., she was an Amigoid. In fact, she's now RJ Mical's wife.) They took
that responsibility away from her and turned it over to someone (who shall
remain nameless) who they proceeded to alienate scores, nay, hundreds of
third-party developers. [Oops, that's "then proceeded".]
(2) They wasted millions upon millions of dollars in an unfocused,
ill-conceived advertising campaign, then refused to spend the relatively
small amounts necessary to put in an appearance at COMDEX/Fall and
CES/January, losing tremendous credibility among developers and dealers.
(3) They put the Amiga out on the market far too soon, with unfinished system
software and inefficient (in production terms) hardware design, creating
problems all along the pipeline.
(4) By rushing the Amiga to market, they managed to position it outside of
the two major markets, home/education and business. It was too expensive for
the home/education market and didn't have the right hardware/software (such
as a decent 80 column, 25-line word-processing package on a pleasant-to-read
display) to crack the business market.
(5) They have consistently ignored the pleas and advice of the folks who
designed the Amiga; said folks have had to sit back and wince as they have
watched Commodore seriously mismanage the marketing of a machine that they
spend three years developing.
I *like* the Amiga, a whole lot. And when I first saw it at the Amiga
Developers' Conference over a year ago, I turned to a friend and said, "The
only thing that could cause this machine to fail is Commodore itself." It
has been frustrating watching that fear come true. No, I am not writing off
the Amiga, but Commodore's track record doesn't fill me with confidence.
I will end on an upbeat note by saying that Commodore has been making some
right moves lately, such as relieving the unnamed person above of all 3rd
party development duties and turning them over to Terry Ishida, an Amigoid at
Los Gatos (I understand he's using Caryn as an assistant). But they've