RALLY ROUND!
Early September was quite a depressing time for
owners of Atari 8-bit computers for the Personal Computer World Show
turned out to be the place at which the grave illness of this
particular patient became apparent. Many seemed to feel that the
illness was terminal. The cause was easily established - neglect.
Everyone has known for years that the major U.K. software houses
have neglected the Atari but now that malaise has spread to Atari
themselves and, worst of all, to the public. If the Atari 8-bit line
is to die then it will be a strange irony that the major
contributors to its death will be the people who need it most, you
and all those other owners who don't support those companies that
are continuing to support the Atari.
As reported elsewhere, the representation of the
Atari 8-bit products in the 'Atari village' at PCW was dismal but
three companies (including ourselves) did show support for the 8-bit
Ataris and needed support from the public. Did they get it? I can't
speak directly for the others but I know that we fared much worse on
the 8-bit side this year than at last year's PCW despite being in a
special Atari only area this time. If we did not have ST products
available we would have lost heavily and would have decided there
and then not to do another exhibition. I suspect that others
supporting only the 8-bit computers probably felt the same. If you
came along and bought something fine, but if not you must take your
share of the blame if some of the exhibitors decide not to bother
next time.
The thing I don't understand is that there are at
least ten times more 8-bit Ataris in this country than ST's yet the
ST commands ten times the interest at the present time. The reason
is fairly obvious when you think about it, the 8-bit Ataris are no
longer 'new'. They may still be the most powerful, affordable home
computers `for the masses' but they are no longer new and our
society clamours after the new. There is of course room for the
established alongside the innovative, if the established is good
enough which in the case of Atari it is, provided that companies
supporting the established line can make a living. A lot of
companies who have supported Atari in the past have done so with
their hearts leading their heads but at some stage the line has to
be drawn. Only you and your hundreds of thousands of Atari owning
friends can determine whether this happens.
Enough. You must have the message. If you want
companies to keep supporting you, you must support them. There is
another Atari Show coming up at the end of November. Make sure that
you go along (and take as many non-PAGE 6 reading Atari owners as
you can find) and show your support. If you find it disappointing,
ask the organisers why they didn't get more 8-bit exhibitors and
write to those you know who didn't exhibit and ask them to come
along next time. It's a two way process, if Atari owners don't
support us, as exhibitors, we just cannot, by the laws of economics
continue to support them.
New ST Coverage
STAGE
This issue sees the start of a separate section
for the ST which you will find in the centre of the magazine. The
reasons are complex and varied but in the end I feel that we can
best support both types of Atari owner by going in this direction.
We do not intend to neglect either and look forward to receiving as
much reader support for STage as we have done, and still do, for
PAGE 6 as a whole.
One piece of advice for ST owners, who may want to
turn to STage - read the rest of the magazine as well. Many of the
software reviews, such as those for Infocom adventures, will be
relevant to the ST and you might miss out. 8-bit owners should not
neglect STage either (and certainly not, as one correspondent
suggested, throw it away!) for you may well decide that an ST would
be a welcome present after all. I know for a fact that many of the
long term Atari owners own, and use, both machines and rightly so.
They will, hopefully, find something of interest from cover to
cover.
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