Monday Night Real Time Conference with Sam Tramiel (Nov. 16, 1992)
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Monday Night Real Time Conference
Host - Lou Rocha
LIVE from COMDEX
with
Sam Tramiel
President, Atari Corporation
Nov. 16, 1992
<[Lou] ST.LOU> It gives me great pleasure to welcome Sam Tramiel, President of Atari Corporation, to the ST Round Table Monday Night Real Time Conference. Many thanks to Sam for taking this time to join us on the very first night of COMDEX '92 as Atari proudly unveils its products at the largest computer trade show in North America.
Sam... please tell us your impressions of the first day of COMDEX.
What were the highlights for Atari Corporation? GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> The show once again is a PC show and we are one of two unique offerings, the other being Apple. We really feel that we have some really exciting hardware and software in the Atari Falcon 030. The important thing is to market the machine properly and we are now planning the advertising for Q1 of 1993.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Sam. Our first question is from JCD at Mag Software.
<[JCD] MAG.SOFTWARE> Hi Sam. Thanks for being here tonite. Sorry I am missing COMDEX this year. Our 1st born baby boy came Nov. 8th. Being a new dealer, I'd like to know when we will get dealer prices on the Falcons? European dealers are already advertising theirs.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Mazel Tov Jeff on your baby, the dealer prices are now available; please call Sunnyvale on Monday next week.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Our next question is from John Cole at Lexicor
<[Lexicor] J.COLE18> Hello Sam, how do you feel a possible trade war between the US and the EC will affect Atari. How would a trade war affect US marketing plans and planned prouduction?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> our questions are very interesting but I really have no control of the situation. I really think that Europe will back off on the agricultural issues. All of Europe is against France on this.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Eric Goodman is next. Eric?
<[ERIC] E.GOODMAN1> There are rumors of a tower version of the Falcon being shown at Comdex. Are these just rumors? GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> There is no tower version at the show and I can't comment further.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Eric. Next we have SAM RAPP.
<[Not Sam T.] SAM-RAPP> Sam, there have been questions on whether the Falcon memory sits on a 32 bit bus or a 16 bit bus. Could you clarify? Also, any design changes in the production models?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Unfortunately, Leonard and Richard Miller are not here and I am not able to answer your question.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... our next question is from James French.
<[James] J.FRENCH2> When will the Falcon be available in Canada, same as U.S.?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> The availability in Canuck land is the same as for the US. ea Canada on being World Series Champions.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam.... the million dollar question... when do you think the dealers will see their first store models?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Some dealers will get machines very, very soon and we will contine to roll out shipments from now on, but real volumes starting in Dec/Jan.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Sam. That is good news. Next we have Keith and Bruce from Canada.
<[Bruce/Keith] B.KLASSEN> Hi Sam, Here is our shopping list: 1) Is FSM and Speedo compatible? 2) When will dealers get Multitos for TT's? 3) Are all TT monitors cancelled? 4) Future of the TT in a tower and/or 040? 5)UNIX? Thanks,
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> 1. FSM and Speedo are not compatible and I have been using Speedo and it is great, with lots of fonts from Bitstream.
2. MultiTos is just being released for the TT, i.e. very soon.
Eric Smith, another fine Canadian, is now living in California and is finishing things off.
3. No. 4. We are planning on a 040 machine and we have no plans on expanding our unix involvement.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... Brian Harvey from Nova Scotia, Canada is next.
<[Brian] B.HARVE7> Sam, what is the future of the MEGA STE? Will a MEGA Falcon replace it or will the MEGA STE be selling for a few more years? GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> The Mega/Ste is still being sold today and the production will depend on the demand which I think will slack off when the Atari Falcon 030 starts shipping in volume.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... Jason Brunken is next.
<J.BRUNKEN> Is Atari or any other company currently working on the 'Virtual' modem/fax/phonemail system for the Falcon. If I know that I can get this I most certainly will get a Falcon!
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> I don't know what a "virtual".... means, but there is a voice mail system and a great fax/modem system.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Our next question is from Robb Albright. GA
<[Veg] R.ALBRIGHT7> Sam, can you give us a brief overview of apps being demoed there, and if there are any press features (TV) that we can keep our eyes open for.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> There are around 40 titles being shown, a lot of sound stuff, i.e. D2D, a beta version of "Concierge" the new name for Sutra, a wild game from Jeff Minter of Llamasoft, and a interesting sewing machine that stitches on hats and teeshirts, and the new Kodak Photo CD which now runs on The Atari Falcon 030 and the TT030. The deal with Kodak was just signed on Friday last week. Calamus showed SL which can use Kodak Photo CD and HiSoft has True Colour software.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam, J.BRUNKEN is willing to clarify that 'virtual' question...
<J.BRUNKEN> By "virtual", I was refering to using the 56001 DSP to emulate these devices rather than paying the big bucks to buy the actual hardware. Are any companies seriously exploring the use of the DSP at this point?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> That is being worked on and should be out by second quarter 93.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Ted Patterson is next, Sam.
<[Ted] J.PATTERSON3> What has been the reaction of showgoers to the Falcon 030 and other assorted goodies? Any new business likely?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> So far, the reaction has been very positive and Dealers and Distributors alike are showing interest.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... Eric Goodman has been VER patient. ;-)
<[ERIC] E.GOODMAN1> Might there be a Jaguar appearing at COMDEX? and if not what info can we get on a release date? GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We just finished the first two developer conferences, one in Sunnyvale, the other in London on the Jaguar system. It's going to be an awesome entertainment machine and delivery will be 2nd half of 93.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Rod Cobble is here.
<R.COBBLE1> Hi, I was wondering Atari's plans for distributing the Falcon? Dealers? any chain stores considered? Mail Order? What will the street prices be? I need IBM compatibility, Would love to do it with one machine, Any word on Emulators?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Wow, a lot of questions. :-) We are planning of course to have dealers and chain stores and Atari mail order. There is a company in Germany, Compo, that is going to show IBM emulation tomorrow at Comdex, they say, if not very soon. One megabyte machine SRP is US $799, a 4 megabyte unit is $999 and 4 megabyte with a 65 megabyte hard drive is US $1299.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Folks... please use your time for only one question... there are ten people in the queue. Next we have Daryl Monge. GA
<[Daryl] D.MONGE> What customer do you see for the Falcon that is not already an Atari customer? (P.S. f.y.i I would like to buy a tower Falcon040 :-) GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We are going after the mass market home user and hope that with software like voice mail for the home and other great apps we can attract new users. The machine really is FUN to use. The sound effects are incredible.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks... Now it's Bill Prang.
<[bill prang] B.PRANG> Sam, I have a bunch of Atari stock that was worth 6000 and is now worth 600. Do you think that the new products in line have a chance of boosting values, and is Atari still buying stock on the market?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Atari has an open plan to purchase stock back from the market and has done so in the last quarter. I of course cannot predict the stock market but we have "rightsized" and hopefully will be going forward in a profitable manner with the Atari Falcon 030.
<[Jim] J.NESS> Bill Prang touched on this already, but let me upload it anyway... Hi. I know this is a tough one to have to answer, but let's mow through it anyway. The stock market has not shown any excitement over the Falcon intro. The quarterly financial results continue to be scary, for anyone banking on the continued existance of your company. How can you convince these financial pros that they are wrong about your company, and that they should count on some real near-term growth? This question is as important to your customers, who want to see you around for awhile, as it to your investors, who simply would like to make some money.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We still have close to $50 million CASH in the bank and are now running at a break even or small profit. We are not working for Wall Street but to make money for our shareholders and only think long term.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Sam for that very insightful answer. I hope it puts some of the naysayers to rest for a while. Next is Geoff Sloan.
<[Geoff] G.SLOAN> Sam, can you tell us any of the companies that will be coming back to Atari to produce for the Falcon?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> It is not a question of companies coming back but of companies writing new and exciting software that takes advantage of the features of the Atari Falcon 030. For example, we are getting quite a few NeXT developers who are used to working with 56000 DSP's and of course we are causing a lot of excitement in the audio area with the DSP and Atari Falcon 030 features which is better than CD quality with 50 kHz sound.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Mike Allen is next. Mike is one of our regulars ;-)
<[Curmudgeon] M.ALLEN14> When can we expect to see offical, regular Atari participation here in GEnie?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> I am going to be accessing GEnie at home and will be more active on a regular basis. (Nathan is getting that in writing!) ;-)
<[Lou] ST.LOU> SAM on GEnie?.. mind-boggling ;-) Next we have Bruce and Keith again. Thanks for waiting fellas.
<[Bruce/Keith] B.KLASSEN> o Sam. What is the status and capability of the SACK 286/386/486 card to give us that dumb DOS compatibility we could to use get people in the door, how soon for Speedo; will the wp features of Concierge have all the features of Wordup and will the spreadsheet be as good or better than LDW?
P.S. We still 'love' Atari 030's!!
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... you can answer any ONE of those ;-)
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> SACK is from Compo and is being shown tomorrow as a 386 SX. Speedo is very soon, within, I would guess, 4-6 weeks. Concierge is a completely different program than WordUp but it has an excellent word processor and the spreadsheet is EXCEL compatible rather than Lotus. We also love our Atari's. ;-) ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Next we have Robb Albright. GA Robb....
<[Robb] R.ALBRIGHT7> Sam, I think you must have missed the second half of my first question, so let me try again.
<[Robb] R.ALBRIGHT7> Have there been any TV Cameras havering around the Atari area, and could you leak who they might be if so, i.e. CNN Headline, NBC, PCTV, so we can get a visual of the excitement we are reading about.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We have not seen in any cameras in the building yet. Hopefully we will have some exposure. However, CNN just received their review unit for technology week.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Ooops.... who's next? James Vogh!
<[James] J.VOGH> Since the Falcon is a home computer, what is the status of game software and what about video phone capability?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We, Atari, have contracted about a dozen games and they will be released over the next few months and there are a number of developers busy working away on some great games. I have seen demos in the US and in Europe, titles such as; Raiden, Road Riot H4WD, Cyber Assault, Steel Talons and Eclipse has a great spaceship game. The special new joystick which works on the STe, Atari Falcon 030 and Jaguar will be shipping in February. It has three fire buttons and a 12 key numeric keypad.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bill Jones from Portland ME is next. Bill GA
<[Bill Jones] B.BILLJONES2> I'm a newly registered ST developer who'll buy the Falcon Dev Kit. I'm concerned about the the level of developer support for the Falcon. Will support differ with the Falcon? And will the kit be more than a box of unbound papers?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Wait, re: the Video Phone question. I have not seen it myself yet but I have been promised that this will be possible.
The developer kit is much more polished that the old Atari ST kit and I feel that we are devoting a lot of quality time and effort to developer support.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Rod Martin from Network 23.... ON THE AIR!
<[Net 23] R.MARTIN22> Any signs of BIG NAME companies porting BIG NAME software to Atari (Microsoft Write, PageMaker, QuarkExpress). I think this could be one of the biggest draws to current computer owners not happy with the computers they have now.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> As we build up volume, I am sure that some "big name" companies will port onto the system. I feel that some of the software now available is better than those big names and much more price competitive. We just signed up Eastman Kodak as a Developer. I think you'll agree that they are a pretty well known company.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... here is Kent Cavanaugh from Surrey BC in Canada.
<[Kent] K.CAVAGHAN2> Hi Sam. Many of my customers ask about repairs. While I generally recommend our two local dealers, I was wondering what was happening with the GE service contract that was to be in place already? GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> I am not involved in this but will check with the US folks.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Sam... Robb Albright is back in the queue and there are no others waiting. Folks.... please /raise your hand now.
<[Robb] R.ALBRIGHT7> There have been rumours that MultiTOS is "Not quite ready". Give us the scoop. Will it be shipping with the dealer demo units, and when (approx. DATE please) might my dealer here in Portland, OR see his demo units.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> you are correct that MultiTos is not quite shipping but as I said ealier, Eric Smith is now in-house and is polishing off the product and will be shipping with the Atari Falcon 030.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Wow..... ten hands just went up... hang on folks... OK... LIVE.... T. Wilson... Bruce and Keith... P.Blagay.
<[Dark.Oak.Sof] T.WILSON14> Is MultiTOS and Falcon info included with new delveloper kits or are they separate packages? I'm going to buy them soon and wanted to know.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> I believe that it is all included in one kit but you can verify this for certain by sending email to Bill Rehbock B.REHBOCK. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bruce and Keith were next in line...
<[Bruce/Keith] B.KLASSEN> Will the PTC1426 monitor work properly with the Falcon? What about new SLM'S SCSI 600dpi? Thanks again Sam GA
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> At Comdex, we are using PTC1426 on a number of Atari Falcon 030 workstations and we have no immediate plans for an Atari branded 600 dpi printer.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Paul Blagay is next Sam...
<P.BLAGA> Hi Sam, I was wondering how compatible the Falcon will be with pre-STE software?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We took great efforts to have the Atari Falcon 030 be very compatible with all Atari 68000 machine software and we think we were quite successful.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam... I know you haven't had dinner yet, right?
Can you handle two or three more questions?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> That is correct and we are starving. ;-)
<[Lou] ST.LOU> OK we have James French and Bill Aein.
<[James] J.FRENCH2> Good day, eh from Edmonton. Will there be any goodies available for dealers like promo pamphlets, etc.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> We will support Dealers with all kinds of marketing and merchandising materials.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bill Aein.
<B.AEIN> Will the street price for the Falcon be the same as manfacturers retail?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Unlikely.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Sam, could you tell us what promo literature is being distributed at COMDEX? Will there be any left for user groups, etc.? Any news about the International Software Catalog?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Atari is giving away new Atari Falcon 030 literature and many software companies have attractive new literature such as Hi-Soft and DMC's Calamus. It is a good idea to send some to our loyal user groups. I will talk to Mr. Brodie about this and the new International Software Catalog is available at, I think, $12.95 retail and I'd be happy to fill your order with your VISA card #. Please call Sunnyvale and speak to Don Thomas next week, in customer service. It is, in fact, $12.00. We just checked.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Just two more... please? And could you have someone post the address for the catalog? On GEnie... of course. ;-) Bill Prang then Mike Allen to close it up.
<[bill prang] B.PRANG> Will a 17 in multisync work on the Falcon, and what is the approximate financial investment now required to be a dealer? thanks for your attendance.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Atari Corp., 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA, 94089-1302 Att: Customer Service, Don Thomas.
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> es, the size of the monitor is not a factor and the Dealer should be financially sound. The investment required depends on the sales targets and marketplace being served.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Mike Allen... take us home...
<[Curmudgeon] M.ALLEN14> I have heard the Atari purchased the source code to Word Up 3. I have thought that WU3 was a WP that had great potential that ALMOST had it right. Does Atari have any plans for the WU3 source code? (Will Falcon run on th Falcon?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Mike Fulton has helped a lot on the Concierge program and he has given a lot of his Word Up experience to it.
There are no plans for Word Up at this time.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> No text block Sam. Just a tremendous thank you. I know we did not cover all the questions that were sent to you via GEnie but I would like to express my thanks on behalf of all Atarians for the time you took tonight. Best wishes. Any last thoughts?
<[Sam] STRAMIEL> Thanks for joining us tonight in Las Vegas. We all hope that we make money tonight at the tables. :-) Wish us luck! Goodnight.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks to all the folks who joined us. Don't forget the two upcoming RTC's here in the ST Round Table with Host Brian Harvey.
=================================================================
Nov. 18th... Keith Gerdes from TraceTech to discuss DATA DIET 2.0 and DATA RESCUE.
Nov. 25th... Phil Comeau from Wintertree Software - Publisher of GramSlam, Grammar Expert and Spelling Sentry.
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