STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!
Ask anyone who's just been to the PCW show - the
8-bit Atari is dead!
In the National Hall, you could hunt all day and
never even smell an 800XL or 130XE. Never mind, you say, lets go up
to the Atari stand, we'll be OK there.
LIKE HELL!!
You would have seen a separate stand exclusively
devoted to VCS machines, but 130XE's? Well, there was one - ONE - on
the Atari stand, tucked away behind the display cases showing what
were said to be the new multi-meg ST's. But that was it. Atari has
declared that it will continue to support and develop the 8-bit
machines, but the evidence says otherwise.
There is however an old saying along the lines of
'He's dead, but he won't lie down' and this is where YOU come in. If
you are an 8-bit Atari user, you have to get off your backside and
do something about it! And don't kid yourself - YOU can do
something.
Okay, so we're not in the same numbers league as
the Spectrum and Commodore 64 owners, but just stop a moment and
take a look through the general computer magazines. You'll see new
software coming out each month for the MSX and the VIC20! Now there
are a couple of machines that really are dead, and yet they are
still being supported! Take a look in your local computer shop and
see how many systems they support. Do they support the Atari? Why
not? Are you honestly going to tell me that you are the only Atari
user in your area?
If your local shop doesn't support Atari, ten to
one you went in and asked once, got a negative reply, and never
asked again. That was where you went wrong. You should go back and
ask again - and again and again and again. You must have a friend
with an Atari - get him off his backside and in there asking too.
Get him to get his friends in there and so on and, eventually, you
will have local support for the Atari. So you think it can't be
done? Well, you're wrong, we've proved in our home town that it
really does work. Two years ago, we would have been lucky to find a
couple of bits of Atari software in the whole City. Today, we have
three shops with large (and expanding) Atari sections! One of our
local shop owners who is a Commodore fanatic now admits he's selling
more Atari software than Commodore!
What about the lack of support from the software
houses? Again it's up to you. Write to the software houses - ask for
an Atari version. When they see there is a market for the Atari,
they'll produce it! If you have also badgered your retailer and he
asks as well then your argument is reinforced.
Another cry I heard so many times at the PCW show
was 'Why don't they do a disk version?' Again, the answer is for YOU
to tell the software houses you want one!
The future of your machine is in your hands - It's
time to stand up and be counted, The fact that you are
reading PAGE 6 marks you as a dedicated user. If we all shout, we
can make a future for our machine. But DO IT NOW! - If all you do is
just think about it, it will be too late!
Ken Ward
CALLING ALL ATARI USER GROUPS
Several of the User Groups representatives I met
at the PCW show expressed a desire to communicate and exchange
information and ideas with other Atari groups.
Can I ask all Atari groups, and any general groups
that have an Atari sub-group, to get in touch with me providing
details of your group and its contacts. We are looking at the
possibility of forming a national association of Atari groups that
will benefit every Atari owner in this country.
Please write to me now, it's important.
KEN WARD, NORWICH USER GROUP, 45 COLEBURN ROAD,
LAKENHAM, NORWICH, NR1 2NZ
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