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GEnie Dateline Atari with Bob Brodie 1993 08
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(C) 1993 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on
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Special Edition Real Time Conference
Friday, August 6, 1993.
Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie
Director of Communications
Atari Corp.
Host - Lou Rocha
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome our
11th consecutive Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie, Director of
Communications for Atari Corp. Before we get too far along
tonight, I would like to recognize the interest and dedication
that Bob has shown to GEnie users by attending these monthly
sessions.
Over the past year Bob has brought us news of all the happenings
at Atari - from the development and delivery of the Falcon to more
recent news about the Jaguar. Each session has been thoughtfully
prepared with detailed files full of the most recent Atari news.
Obviously, Bob has worked hard to prepare that information for us.
Bob has also been happy to answer all manner of questions from the
guests who have attended each of the Real Time Conferences. His
knowledge of the hardware and software for the Atari platform is
vast and Bob is very skillful in sharing it with faithful
Atarians. He has also brought along some special guests like CEO
Sam Tramiel, James Grunke (Atari Music) and Eric Smith (MultiTOS
author) to share 'the hotseat'. We have enjoyed their
contributions on those occasions.
The Dateline Atari! transcripts have been downloaded up to 750
times each as folks from all over gather these valuable sources of
information. The transcripts are also carried regularly in Atari
Explorer Online and, until recently, the former Z*NET magazine.
These transcripts are also downloaded on scores of local bulletin
boards and occasionally find their way into user group newsletters
and magazines. Some of them even appear in such notable Atari
magazines as Current Notes.
Tonight promises to be another notable evening. For the first
time, Dateline Atari! is a FREE Real Time Conference, courtesy of
GEnie's Hot Summer Nights and RoundTable Sysop, Darlah Potechin.
Thank you to GEnie and Darlah for making this possible.
<BOB-BRODIE> Welcome to the August installment of Dateline Atari,
here on our official online resource, GEnie. As always, it is a
great pleasure to have this time to spend with you. I hope that
you have come to look forward to it as I have. I'm grateful once
again to have my good friend Lou Rocha moderating the conference
tonight...and without any further ado, let's get started.
Much of our efforts here at Atari right now are focused on three
primary products, the Lynx, the Atari Falcon030, and the soon to
be released Jaguar.
On the Lynx side of things, we have just released another game for
the Lynx entitled "GORDO 106". The setting for the game is deep in
the cavernous sub-basement of N. Human, Inc., trapped in cage No.
106, a poor, brutally exploited lab monkey named Gordo lives a
life of lonely misery until an experimental nuclear potion gives
Gordo the cunning intellect that he needs to free his friends and
escape from N. Human. In the game, you play the part of Gordo as
he trys to escape from N. Human Labs, freeing his other animal
friends and getting revenge on the wicked lab scientists as he
seeks his freedom. This game is in stock now, and the suggested
retail price for it is $39.99. Remember if your local retailer
doesn't have the game, you can purchase it directly from Atari by
calling our 800 order line number: 1-800-221-EDGE. This is a very
enjoyable game.
We will be in the next couple of weeks be uploading some screen
shots of Gordo 106 in an issue of Atari Explorer On-line. The
files will be GIFs created from slides. Thanks to Ron Kovacs of
Z*Net News Service for his efforts in creating these GIF files.
I'm sure you will all enjoy the high quality of these picture
files!!! They will give you an excellent idea of what to expect
from the game!
The next title due up for the LYNX is Jimmy Connors Tennis. This
is a terrific game, using lots of great sound effects. The game is
four megs, one of our larger titles for the Lynx to date.
For the Atari Falcon030, most of the product shortages on this
product have been alleviated. We have a good supply of Falcons in
the following configurations: one meg of ram, no hard disk, 4 megs
of ram and an 80 meg hard disk, and four meg of ram, no hard disk
drive. Most of the "hiccups" revolving around getting our software
products out the door have been resolved...so Atari Works, Speedo
GDOS and MultiTOS are now readily available to our customers that
have not purchased an Atari Falcon030, but would still like to
have these products available to them. We hope that you will take
a look at these products. Remember that there are screen shots
available of them in back issues of Atari Explorer Online
Magazine, available here in the libraries on GEnie. If you haven't
seen what Atari Works looks like, or have questions about how
fonts are installed in Speedo GDOS, these picture files might just
have the answers that you're looking for before purchasing the
products.
We are starting to hear of more third party products being created
for the Atari Falcon030. One of the ones that I'm looking forward
to is from one of the original ST developers, Migraph! Kevin and
Liz Mitchell are close to releasing a color hand scanner for the
Falcon030. We're working on a number of entertainment products for
the Falcon030, including games that will be using the exciting new
controller that will be shared by both the Falcon030 and the
Jaguar. We expect to be marketing this controller in the Fall,
about the same time as the Jaguar launch. Our projection is that
we will be making the controller available for approximately $29,
and bundle a game with it for an additional cost. At this point in
time, the exact title is under discussion still, but one of the
leading candidates to be bundled is Llamazap! from Jeff Minter of
the UK. It's a terrific looking game, getting rave reviews from
everyone that has seen portions of the beta versions of the game.
Pacific Software Supply has announced that they are going to be
carrying a product that will allow you to use the Kodak Photo CD
with your Atari Falcon030. This is called PHOTO SHOW, and allows
you to view the images while creating scripts for the sound files
to be played at the same time with CD quality sound. PHOTO SHOW
will work on RGB, VGA, or broadcast monitors, and you can even
record your slide show to your VCR easily. Suggested retail price
of Photo Show is $35 US.
Later this month, we will be hosting a meeting with Video Game
Publications to begin the roll-out of the Atari Jaguar. The amount
of interest that we have had in this machine is nothing less than
amazing! We've been getting a steady stream of callers that are
looking to become dealers, and some of the brightest stars in the
gaming world are lining up to become developers for the Jaguar. I
will be speaking to Sam Tramiel to see if we can schedule him for
an online conference in the next month or so. He is very excited
about this product, and I know that he would enjoy having an
opportunity to visit with you to discuss personally all of the
wonderful features in the Jaguar. I'm hopeful that his schedule
will permit us to do that next month.
With that, I'm ready to take questions, Lou! Let's get started!!!
<[HOST] ST.LOU> OK Bob.... our first question comes from Hydraxxus
in Hawaii.
<[Hydraxxus] J.GERMAN3> I noticed there are no Falcons on Oahu but
there are on Maui ;) and that the stock went up to 4. Is this a
result of the Jaguar announcement or Falcon sales? What games have
you seen and how will they compete with current game machines?
<BOB-BRODIE> I believe that the rise in the stock price is due to
the joint... announcement of the Jaguar, and also the
manufacturing agreement with IBM. To me, it is a terrific
validation of the product, and Atari Corp. to have such an
impressive strategic partner as IBM. I have seen about 7 titles
for the Jaguar, most of them still are using "working titles",
except as noted in the press release which I've already uploaded
here some time ago. They are by and large, breath-taking games!
Some of the finest scrolling, speed, texture mapping, and real
time effects that I have ever seen on the system. At some point
after our media day, I will be uploading some screen shots of
Jaguar games. They will most likely be 24 bit Targa pictures, or
PCX files.
<[Graham] G.NORTON> Hi Bob, Thanks for joining us. Most of my
questions relate to the Falcon. The first being about
service...what is Atari's policy on Warranty work? Why does
everything have to be send to Atari? Also what advertising is
Atari planning on in the near future... back to school stuff and
all. Also how does Atari view Apple's new products with the DSP's
etc.
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Graham. Re our warranty work policy, on the
Falcon030, we don't require that the unit be sent back to
Sunnyvale for work. We recently had a revision in our return
policy, which you should be hearing about very soon (it appears
that you haven't already heard about it). Basically, for all in
warranty machines the dealer will determine which of the major 6
components is defective: The HD, Keyboard, Motherboard PCBA, Power
Supply, Ram board, or floppy disk drive. The dealer will be able
to return the defective component to Sunnyvale, and exchange the
defective component to get the customer out the door quickly. The
defectives will still be sent to us, but I'm sure that you agree
that is the logical way for the defective portions of the unit to
be handled: send 'em back to the manufacturer!! Re advertising, we
are not prepared to embark on an ambitious advertising program at
this point in time that we had expected to be able to do. The
continuing poor economy continues to wreak havoc on ALL computer
manufacters, not just Atari. I'm sure that you have heard about
the layoffs and losses at both IBM and Apple as a result from
their reduced sales. We will review the evolving changes in the
marketplace, and respond accordingly. In the meantime, we do have
a market development fund program which is on a proposal basis by
the dealers. Some use it, some don't. It's really up to them. No
comment on the 040 machines, sorry. Re Apple...they've got an
awful lot of problems right now, and I'm really not sure that the
DSP units are a prime product for them. They are putting a lot of
effort into Newton it seems.
<[Bman] B.AEIN> Has Atari been looking at using the Power PC chips
for future Falcons? Is there any time frame for a F040? Who will
carry the Jag this fall? Has Atari been pushing Jag developers to
make lynxing/multi Jag games? Any fighting games? How will the Jag
games be priced?
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, we have had some discussions about using other
chips like the Power PC for our products in the future. We try to
stay abreast of all the innovations that are occuring in the
market in order to ensure that our hardware will continue to be a
cutting edge product. However, we haven't made a commitment to
using the Power PC for anything...it's just a topic of discussion
at this point. Re the F040, sorry, as I told Graham, no comment on
that product...Please remember that we haven't even announced that
we are officially doing the machine, just that we've been working
on one.
Re the Jaguar: At CES virtually every major retailer indicated
that they are very interested in carrying the Jaguar. We are
finalizing our sales plans on the Jaguar, and are already in
discussions with many of those retailers. The high end of the
Jaguar games is about $69 at this point.
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Next is Ron Whittam of the ABUG group in Idaho.
Ron is a new GEnie user.
<[Ron - ABUG] R.WHITTAM> Bob & Sam: With NO DEALERS in Boise,
Idaho and no means to travel out of state how can the members of
our User Group (ABUG) get a Falcon?? AND will Atari still produce
fine software compatible with the ST, like Atari Works?
<BOB-BRODIE> Ron, I'm sure that the travel problem will resolve
itself over a period of time. What we will do is refer members of
your user group to the next closer dealer to them, and then permit
that dealer to mail order a Falcon to them.
Re other software, right now we are planning on an upgrade for
Atari Works, but don't have any other projects on the burner at
this time that I can discuss. However, the clock is certainly
ticking on the standard 8Mhz ST. You really should be looking to
the third party market for solutions to upgrade the machines to a
better level of performance to ensure that the unit will continue
to be serviceable. Or get a Falcon!!! :)
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Well done, Ron. Our next guest is R.SATTLER from
Illinois.
<[Mr.X] R.SATTLER> Hi Bob. How many Falcons were sold in the US
with 63 meg hard drives? And in the interest of customer
satisfaction, will Atari offer an upgrade path to those who were
unfortunate enough to get the 63 meggers?
<BOB-BRODIE> We never reveal sales figures, Rob. Sorry. And there
are no plans at present to upgrade the 65 meg drives.
<[Doug] D.DOBBS> Bob, I need to find a good Atari repair shop in
north Jersey for my sister's 1040. Her monitor went "phzzt" but we
can't find a shop to fix it. Any chance you could help us out?
Thanks for being here tonight.
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Doug, I am afraid that I don't know North Jersey
from South Jersey...from where I sit, it's all New Jersey. How
about this: Software Spectrum in North Plainfield 908-561-8777
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Thanks Bob. Charles Smeton from NewSTar is next!
<[NewSTar] C.S.SMETON> Bob, has Atari reconsidered its policy of
not releasing the authorized dealer list so that developers can
make contact and send promotional literature to dealers?
<BOB-BRODIE> No, Charles. Garry Tramiel is very firmly against
that. We will continue to be happy mailing that information on the
behalf of the developers to our dealers, as well as continue
discussions in a productive fashion with the IAAD as to how we can
best handle that situation. I know this isn't the ideal answer
that you had hoped for. However, I am confident that we'll be able
to work something out, like referring you to our rep firms to fill
out their product knowledge as well. The IAAD is a first rate
organization, so I don't envision any difficulties in working with
them at all.
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Thanks Charles and now we have Eric Zrath-Smiley
of the Gaming Digest!
<[Eric @ STGD] ZRATH-SMILEY> Bonsoir Bob, I have 2 questions
regarding the Jaguar: 1) A software developer friend of mine is
interested in the Jaguar. He is already doing CD-ROM and 3DO
development. He tried to get some info from IBM themselves, but
got nowhere. Could you tell me who should be contacted at Atari
for developer stuff, so I can pass the info on to him? 2) What is
the maximum memory capacity of the Jaguar cartridges?
<BOB-BRODIE> You're friend is mistaken to be contacting IBM, their
job is to only BUILD the units, and distribute them for us...they
are not in charge of development issues. Have him contact Bill
Rehbock at Atari, and I would recommend that he send a fax to him.
He's a tough guy to catch on the phone right now, or try sending
Bill GEnie mail. Re the Jaguar carts, :) let's save that for
another time to discuss. The answer is very interesting indeed!
<[Dale] D.ELLIS16> Bob thanks for being here! How is the Falcon
selling as of today's date? And what is the status of the voice
mail system for the Falcon? Who do I talk to about becoming a
dealer? It's not just a computer, it's a future!
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Dale, we have a rep firm that is handling all of
our dealers in Florida. Send me email and I promise that I will
provide you their contact information there. I'm afraid that I
have CPUs and HDs spread all over the office tonight, so I can't
readily get at the list. The Falcon is selling well, given the
state of the economy. Re the DSP modem, there have been some
delays in getting it ready by our strategic third party partner
that we have, but we remain committed to the modem. We hope to see
it by late 3-Q.
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Sign him up! :-) Our next guest is Texas Atarian
Greg Matthijetz!
<G.MATTHIJETZ> Was there any plan for the Falcon and Jaguar to be
synergistic? Will there be the possiblilty of connecting the two
in any way?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Greg, yes there are discussions about ways to have
the Jaguar connected together. But I wouldn't look for that
feature to be implemented in the first group of titles that will
be available. Look for that a little down the road.
<[Eric] E.JOLLEY> Hi Bob! Q: Are any of the Japanese game giants
(Capcom, Konami, etc.) Jag developers? No specific names needed,
just curious if Atari considers them important to third party
support (I do).
<BOB-BRODIE> We consider them very important to the market, and
while I cannot confirm on deny any of the names that you've
mentioned at this point in time, we will be doing press releases
later on as to who some of the strategic partners are that we have
enlisted for software development on the Jaguar.
<[George] G.IKEN> Any word on Houston dealers... Shirley Taylor
says any TEXAS dealer can sell Falcons at the Houston show. How
about after the show...Phone orders??
<BOB-BRODIE> None yet specifically in Houston, George. Our policy
is that if you don't have a dealer in your city, we will refer you
to the next closest dealer. So for the purposes of your show,
yes... we will be happy to authorize any dealer in Texas to attend
your show and sell Falcons there. Please have them contact me in
advance so I can give them written authorization for their files.
<[Hassen] H.HAMMOUD> I just bought a Portfolio, and I love it. I'm
showing it to all of my friends and co-workers, and they are
interested in the unit. Where does Atari Corp. stand on the
Portfolio. Are more available? Also, will Atari plan to use their
64 bit RISC chip in any computers...perhaps as an add on board for
the Falcon's processor slot?
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, we still have Portfolios available for sale. We
have not pursued any additional peripherals for it at this time,
though. Again, the hardware market is just not good for anyone at
this point in time, and the Portfolio is no exception,
unfortunately. Re the 64 bit RISC chip in the Jaguar, we are
reviewing all of the options for using this chipset, including
computers.
<[sanjay] S.AGARWAL> I am interested in purchasing Atari Works,
but if I purchase the Falcon later, with hard drive can I get a
rebate for the software ?
<BOB-BRODIE> No, I'm sorry, that is not our policy. Atari Works on
the Falcon is something that we provide free of charge to every
Falcon owner.
If you purchase it previous to your purchase of the Falcon, then
you will have to discuss that matter with your dealer. It would be
prudent to conduct both sales with the same retailer. :)
<[Jeff] J.WHITE99> Since discussion at SIGGRAPH this week centered
around 3DO by SGI,SUN, and their partners is it fair to assume
they have not been addressed as potential Jag partners. Also there
were some Falcon remarks made at Newtek's party that were
reflective of consumer concern over expandability and audio
performance. Remarks?
<BOB-BRODIE> It's interesting to note that a recent issue of Game
Pro Magazine made note of the many MultiMedia projects that 3DO
has announced, but the distinct lack of Shooters, fighters,
etc....i.e. GAMES! As to the discussions that SGI and Sun might
make re 3DO, I really have no comment. Newtek is a long time Amiga
developer, and I would not realistically expect them to comment
favorably on _ANY_ Atari product that could hurt their most
important strategic alliance that they have.
We take care to ensure that our development partners on the Jaguar
understand _VERY CLEARLY_ how important non-disclosure is to us.
We don't _WANT THEM_ talking about the system at a party at an
industry trade show....today anyway. :)
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Makes sense.... Sam Rapp is next
<[Sam030] SAM-RAPP> Hi Bob! You are missed in the Tuesday
Conferences over on that 'other' system... My question is one that
is on everyone's mind around here... There has been a lot of
frustration with Atari's supporters for some time now... We have
lost a lot of good people to other platforms... It seems that
although Atari has made some superior products, it's just never
built the momentum to regain the market it once had. So, the big
question is: Is this FINALLY going to be the YEAR of ATARI? Also,
my Falcon has TOS 4.02, can I get 4.04 without having to pay an
arm and a leg?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Sam, re that "other system" with the Tuesday night
COs... they are having their own growth problems! GEnie might be
slow at times, but I couldn't get on to Delphi because there
wasn't an available node!! I was shocked. I've passed on my very,
very frustrating experiences in attemtping to get online there to
Gordie, and I'm very hopeful that he will ask them to address it
soon. Re the year of Atari...I really hate that phrase. I do
expect to have a very successful fourth quarter, although the
balance sheet won't reflect it because of the heavy promotional
costs asssociated with the Jaguar rollout. But it should set the
stage for a very exciting 1994. Re TOS, when I last discussed the
various different Falcon TOS's with Bill Rehbock, he told me that
there were really no major changes from TOS 4.1 to TOS 4.04 that
FPATCH doesn't handle. But if you really want to get the latest
ROM, I believe that the cost of that is $59. Not even close to one
arm! :)
<M.SILVERSTE3> Hi Bob, What kinds of Video Digitizers/Frame
grabbers are currently available for Falcons that will totally
support True Color?? Are they all cartridge based? Is there any
pricing you can give and will VIDI pro from Rombo Scotland be
doing anything in this arena?? Also, can we expect any news on
surprises for next month's Glendale show?? (At least give us one
surprise??) Will there be plenty of Falcons to obtain by then?? I
really hope and expect the biggest turnout yet this year and am
looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!!
<BOB-BRODIE> Didn't we say one question???? :) :) :) :)
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Pick a question! ;-)
<BOB-BRODIE> OK, re the frame grabbers, I recall hearing that
ROMBO was going through a re-organziation some time ago, so I
really haven't heard anything from them in a long time. The latest
that I have heard is that Overscan from Germany is going to be
doing a video frame grabber and selling it in the US via COMPO
Software. As I indicated earlier, there are plenty of Falcons now,
and our friends in Los Angeles are blessed with a number of really
fine dealers in the area. I'm sure that they will ALL be looking
to attend the Glendale Show as well. I always look forward to this
show, it's like old home week for me. I will be speaking to COMPO
very soon to see if they plan on having at least a prototype
available at the show.
<[D.A.K.] D.KAUFMAN> Will there ever be a hot Atari notebook for
musicians? I believe there is a market for this since I've heard
and read the Pow*rbook works poorly with MIDI. Greetings Bob from
NYC, home of the Jaguar launch!
<BOB-BRODIE> We're really focusing on the Jaguar and the Falcon
right now. The plans for the ST Book rework have been tabled until
we have the Jaguar done.
<[Randy] R.PERRY4> With the recent lowering of Apple prices, their
Centris 610 4/80 is selling for about the same price as an Atari
Falcon 4/80(after rebate), and the Centris is a 20 Mhz 68040
machine. Any plans for lowering Falcon prices to stay competitive?
<BOB-BRODIE> No, the Centris is pursuing a different market than
we are with the Falcon. Even though they have lowered the price on
their hardware, they still don't have the DSP chip onboard, so it
is not truly comparable to the Falcon. Our dealers are not
reporting any problems with comparison shoppers using the Centris
as a comparison.
<G.NORTON> Bob, Does Atari plan on getting a service rep. Also any
word on a Canadian (non-music) rep firm. And finally I have to say
the Jag. is looking awfully exciting from a sales perspective!
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Graham, we have a Manager of Quality Assurance
that will be assuming the mantle of the service rep. He will be
the one that will be contacting you with the service policies that
we discussed during your last question. :)
We've discussed an non-music rep for Canada, but haven't been able
to work anything out yet on that front. I'd certainly like to do
so, personally.
I'm pleased to hear your reaction to the Jaguar...it's even more
exciting to see!! I'm really looking forward to uploading those
Targa pics later on....really impressive graphics!!! <D.MUNSIE> Hi
Bob, could you please make an educated guess on the number of...
Falcons in use by XMAX 93 and also any comments on the rumor....
of a Falcon or Jaguar card for the PC's? Thanks
<BOB-BRODIE> Sorry, Dave. No comment on the number of machines
sold. Re the rumor of a Falcon or Jaguar card for the PCs, we've
said before that we feel that the Jaguar chipset is a good
candidate for being utilized on computers, and certainly there are
enough PCs out there to make a PC card something worthy of at
least giving some serious consideration to.
<[Glenn] G.GORMAN2> Bob, I'm being transferred to Nashville,
Tennessee. How can I get a listing of dealers and user groups in
that area.
<BOB-BRODIE> Glenn, I don't have the user group list on the system
that I am working from tonight. For the dealer, try The Music Man
in Nashville. I can send you the phone number and address in email
if you drop me a line.
<[/sen 21] C.CASSADAY> Hi Bob! (grin) We are still waiting on news
for the proposed dealer in SA, TX. I must commend the patience of
the individual trying to obtain an Atari dealership. Please help
us!!!! <BOB-BRODIE> Chris, we are trying to, but it would be
inappropriate of me to discuss any problems with a particular
dealer's application on a national forum like this. I have spoken
to him a number of times, and he certainly seems like a fine man.
I also recognize that our present staffing situation makes us
difficult to reach and a certain amount of intolerance to delays
is reasonable on his part. :)
<[Neal-J&J's] N.BAKER4> Hi Bob! Quick question, with the
announcement of the new Developer's CD Rom, and Walnut Creek's new
Atari disk. Is there any plans for a new CD Rom Driver for the
ST's? Meta Dos and even ICD's new driver have got some problems.
Also, thanks for the great support you guys have provided over the
last few months, you guys are getting it together!
<BOB-BRODIE> The developer CD will come with a floppy diskette
with the driver software that you will need to use with it, Neal.
That will most likely be a MiNT driver, and a MetaDOS driver. If
you have specific bug reports, I know that Mike Fulton would
really appreciate getting them. You can reach him here on GEnie as
MIKE-FULTON.
<[Steve] S.ELEK> Bob, I was disappointed that you did not appear,
nor any saleable FALCON030's nor any saleable LYNex at the 7/31
MIST AtariFest. Will there be any near-term Atari support of
substance for users groups?
<BOB-BRODIE> Steve, I apologize for the confusion about the MIST
Show. I have yet to attend a single Atarifest this year ANYWHERE!
I will certainly be at the Glendale Show, but only because it is a
short drive (five hours) from here, and I don't need an expense
account for something like that...it's home, and I can do a very
low budget trip there. Indy and others are another matter. We
have, as part of our expense trimming at Atari, curtailed most of
the travel throughout the company.
Re the Falcons and the Lynxes, I feel compelled to point out that
we would NOT have sold those at the show even had I attended. This
is a job of both the show promoters, and the retailers that are
doing the show. I do recall that last year there were a number of
people that commented on the presence at the MIST Show of the
latest games, but the same people didn't purchase the games there.
That tends to chill the interest of a retailer to return to a show
if he doesn't have good results there. Had we been approached by a
authorized Falcon dealer to attend the show, we certainly would
have approved it.
<[Jeff] J.WHITE99> I would just like to publicly clarify that it
was an attendee, not Newtek, who was asking me questions at
Siggraph. Also I would like to publicly commend you, Bob, as well
as the portions of the staff at Atari that I deal with frequently,
on the Herculean efforts you all have been pleasuring us with of
late.
<BOB-BRODIE> Ah, ok...thanks Jeff! I still don't see SGI and Sun
as big players in the home entertainment market, which is really
where we expect the Jaguar to shine.
<[Bman] B.AEIN> Will the Jag have a mascot? Will there be a 14 meg
no HD F030 for sale?
<BOB-BRODIE> Not exactly, but there are plans for one of the games
to have some "cat like" :) characters in them. No plans for a 14
meg no hd Falcon, sorry.
<[token8bit] ANIMATSURI> Is Atari condering selling the rights to
its now dead 8bit line? I'm sure they can use the spare change.
;^)
<BOB-BRODIE> We are still selling them (believe it or not) in some
parts of the world. They simply refuse to die altogether. :) If
you'd care to make an offer, I'm sure Sam would be willing to
consider it. For the US, my personal opinion is that they are no
longer competitive for new sales.
<H.VANEYKEN> I have an STe (4 meg) with TOS 1.6. Could I with
MultiTOS run two or more GEM programs at a time and see them both
in separate windows? For example, a wordprocessor and a drawing
program. Would it be possible (in principle) to pipe info?
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, it is possible. But you must remember that on a
68000 based unit has NO hardware based memory protection, so there
is a much greater possibiliy of crashes than on a 030 based unit.
It will also be slow on an 8Mhz machine, so I urge you to upgrade
to a faster machine, perhaps with a Tiny Turbo, Turbo030, or one
of the other fine products from Fast Tech.
<[fugitive] E.LIN1> Could you list all the chips that will be in
the Jag? Will it have a 64 bit graphics processor only or will it
be a true 64 bit machine?
<BOB-BRODIE> I could, but then Sam would kill me. Unless Leonard
got to me first. I can handle Richard Miller, though. :)
Seriously, it is a true 64 bit machine, including a 64 bit bus.
Later on this month, we'll be releasing more press materials on
the Jaguar, I'm certain that they will also have that informatin
in AEO.
<[Tony @ Canoe] A.RIDLEY1> could you tell us who Atari is planning
to sell Falcons to? Who is the future Atari user? Also would
Atari consider licensing the Jag Chipset? or any other chipset?
<BOB-BRODIE> Tony, we have several different markets for the
Falcon. We are of course, still very much active in the music
world. Our systems are the preferred units by many professionals.
I expect that their reasons to choose Atari will become even more
compelling with the coming of some new, high end software later
this year, like Cubase Audio for Falcon. This product will set new
standards for musical applications. We also still very much
believe that the machine represents an innovative method for
personal multimedia applications, although some of the key
products related to that have been slow to come to the market. As
a rule, we don't necessarily say "This is what we want to sell to"
but rather we look for alliances with key developers that have a
vision for how their product can give people a reason to choose
Atari over another brand. There are some graphic applications that
do that on the Falcon now, but they are not available as readily
as we would like them to be ....so to an extent, we don't control
who the future users will be nearly as much as the developers do.
At least in my opinion. :) Re the Jag licensing...we like to talk.
We're always willing to discuss any reasonable proposals with
anyone.
<J.BATTEY1> Will anyone from Atari officially be at the Houston
show & should the folks at Kodak's 800 number have known about the
Falcon & Photo Show before I told them? Are you targeting the
Cable TV industry? John L. ?
<BOB-BRODIE> Re the Houston Show, I'm thinking of using some of
the frequent flyer mileage that I've accumulated and coming to the
Houston Show. I love the city, and it's always been a very
enjoyable visit for me.
Re the Kodak 800 number....yes, they should know about it. They
are not only registered Atari developers, they were asked about
the Falcon MONTHS ago, during a RTC on another network, which
shall remain nameless. :)
Re Cable TV Industry, not necessarily with the Falcon, but with
the Jaguar certainly.
<L.SMITH70> Could you give us an idea of what the Jaguar casing
will look like? *slobber* :)
<BOB-BRODIE> Later on, like a month...maybe less, we'll be
uploading some files that will show you all that stuff. Including
screen shots from the games.
<[Harvey] H.WOLFE1> Bob, I live in Toronto and I was planning on
buying MultiTos from a local dealer. However, so far I still can't
get MultiTos from Compuworld or Replay Entertainment. Should I
just give up and order from TOAD by mail order or is it likely to
arrive in Toronto soon? Secondly, if I ever manage to buy MultiTos
or Speedo GDOS, is Atari going to be making minor upgrades
available either free or for a nominal amount; or am I going to
have to buy an entire new version each time there is an upgrade?
This was annoying enough when I had to buy TOS 3.06 in order to
use a 1.4 megabyte drive, even though in all other respects my TOS
3.01 was satisfactory. However, I do understand it being necessary
when dealing with ROM's. But this would be completely
unsatisfactory if it is also the way that minor upgrades to Speedo
GDOS or MultiTos will be handled.
<BOB-BRODIE> Harvey, we sell to a number of sources, including
distributors like Pacific Software Supply. There is nothing
stopping your dealers in Toronto from ordering the product from
them. We have it in stock, and have been shipping. We are doing
NOTHING to prevent them from ordering it, so it's not like we are
trying to boycott Toronto from MultiTOS or Speedo. I guess what
I'm really trying to get across is that we have no control over
their ordering habits/abilities/desires. There are plenty of
people on line that have the products...I really am at a loss of
what else to say about it.
Re the upgrades, without knowing what the upgrades are...major or
minor, it's impossible for me to give you a realistic assesment of
what the cost might be. I'm not aware of any immediate plans for
an upgrade to SpeedoGDOS at this point, <[Lee Johnson]
L.JOHNSON13> Bob.. congrats on still being with Atari, and not
leaving soon like other Atari execs. We in Champaign, IL
appreciated your visit, too.. OK.. I can order a 1 meg no HD
falcon right now, yes?
Someone just told me that if I have a local dealer, I MUST go
through them... but I don't know if/where my local dealer is.. can
I use mail order, or how can I find out where my local dealer is?
Also, what's the price of a 1 meg no HD falcon, and is it
hard/easy to install a HD later?
<BOB-BRODIE> We have an abundant supply of one meg Atari
Falcon030s in stock, so they are indeed readily available. The
MSRP is $799 for the one meg units. The HD is readily handled by
using the SCSI port and hooking up an external SCSI disk drive. Re
the dealer.....you have an excellent VAR in the area, let me ask
her to contact me, and we'll see what we can do to help you.
(Pssssstt- Dorothy! Call me about this, ok? ;))
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Dale Ellis has the honor of asking the last
question tonight, Bob.
<[Dale] D.ELLIS16> Bob, Do you have a presentation date on the
Jaguar? And a firm shipping date? In other words; When can I
actually get one? Maybe a NLT date. Do you have the names of any
dealers on the Space Coast of Florida? And any plans to market any
hardware-software in the former Soviet states? Luv that Lynx!!!!!
;-)
<BOB-BRODIE> Dale, the plans for the Jaguar rollout are for it to
be sold in NYC and San Francisco over the holiday season. The rest
of the country will have them available in 1994, so if you're in
the Space Coast of Florida...1994. We don't have a firm shipping
date that we will release at this point in time publically, sorry.
Re the Soviets, former Soviets...that is a task that we have
delegated to our subsidaries overseas. Which I will gladly allow
them to embrace without any interference on any kind from me. :)
Seriously, our Germany office handles that area, and if it will
make sense, and sales, then I am certain that they will pursue it
vigorously.
<[HOST] ST.LOU> Bob, just a short thank you and goodbye tonight.
You must be exhausted. Let's chat about something special for the
anniversary edition of Dateline Atari next month. OK? Goodnight
and thanks again. GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Thanks, Lou. Has it been a year already???? Amazing!
I really do enjoy these times where we can all come together on
GEnie, and think that it's just wonderful that it was a FREE
Conference tonight! Thanks to everyone for attending. We are
looking forward to next month already! Goodnight!!!
=================================================================
Ed. Note : The September 3rd session of Dateline Atari! will
feature some nice prizes from Atari Corporation. Be sure and watch
the ST RoundTable bulletins for further news.
