TAR I
COMPUTER
n ^ENTHUSIASTS
Y ELLINGTON
A# : V Wellington Atari Computer Enthusiasts
Dear MeHbers,
Herewith the WACE newsletter for November ♦ A fair hit has happened in
the past «onth, and Much of it is worth connenting on, hut of More iMMediate
interest is the following announceMent»
NEXT MEETING!!! CHANGE OF PLACE AND DATE!!! NEXT MEETING!!!
j
As notified at our last gathering, we are changing the location of our
Meetings* no longer will we Meet at the TAB, MeMbers are suMMoned to the
"LOAVES AND FISHES", which is situated behind the ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL in
MOLESWORTH St, Molesworth St, of course, begins at ParlisMent Buildings and
is near the Wellington Railway Station, so our Meeting place cannot be More
centrally located (See Map attached)♦ The advantages of the change are that
we will have rooM to Move, to set up More than one display at the one tine,
as well as air to breathe!
For DeeeMber only, the Meeting will be held on the second Wednesday of
the Month, ie 12 DeeeMber (in the New Year we will revert to the first
Wednesday), j
At our next Meeting, we hope to have the usual deMonstrations of new j
software, while Ross PalMer has proMised to introduce us to the intracacies ;
of Action! language. A new club tape will be available for distribution, j
This tape will be a C30, have a strong XMas/gaMes thene and (given the !
prograMMes currently available) it should be a beauty. New MeMbers Might !
also wish to obtain last year's Xmss tape (no. 9), which is also a !
XMas-oriented C30, |
LAST MEETING ij
Two blokes froM the Post Office deMonstr3ted Modens and Videotext, Most f
interesting. Using ModeMS, one easily and econonically call up the UK, the l
USA or even Auckland and get into their bulletin boards. Your coMMittee is I
actively investigating the introduction of Modens into the club, I
NOTICE OF SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING j
Your coMMittee proposes to call a Special General Meeting at the first f
Meeting of 1985, ie, February, to discuss the following notion?
"That the nenbership fee for 1985 be set at $20.00". j
It night be thought that this proposal is indecently close to the end of the j
price freeze, but we have good reasons for it, nanely, to ensure that the |
club can pay the rent for the "Loaves and Fishes" (this is $385 pa) plus f
Meet the cost of a noden as well as beat the effects of inflation. I
THE CLUB DISK LIBRARY
Members know that we have a large collection of "public domain"
progrsMMes in our library* all held on disk* The disks in the library are
available for hire at $5*00 per Month* plus $5*00 deposit which is
refundable when the disk is returned unharMed* Dennis Dawson <ph 736176)*
the prograMMe librarian* adMinisters this schewe. What disks to hire? I
suggest the disks in "The Best of ACE" series, ACE's Educational Disks,
ANTIC'S disks and the "Action!" and "Pilot" disks* The contents of the
library will be be published in the Februry newsletter* There are two other
pointsJ the newly received of these disks are a Major source of prograMMes
for our club tapes, so we hold theM for three Months before they are
available for hire. Secondly, there is a liMit of 2 disks at anyone tine*
Out of towners can write to Dennis Dawson at Flat 2/205 Cecil Rd, Wsdestown,
Wei1ington*
PRINTER UTILITY DISK
Michael Munro is putting together a disk of printer utility prograMMes*
If you have any of sufficient Merit,please let Michael know (ph793363)*
CASSETTE DECK ENHANCEMENT
At long last, we can offer a scheMe, to enhance the reliability of Atari
tape decks* How to take advantage of this offer? Ring Me at ph736716 and let
mo have your naMe and address plus a proMise to hand over $10*00 when asked.
The Modification that will be done is the "Hi-Rel Mod" as set out in a
recent newsletter. CallaM Katene* a servicenan* will carry out the work*
THE BUDGET
Few expected Rodger Douglas to reduce the tax on coMputers* The changes
are welcoMe, with sone ©Mazing prices (by New Zealand standards) coMing into
operation- a 1050 and an 800XL can be had for about $1500, which is a little
More than the sum your Secretary paid in 1982 for his 16k TOO and tape deck*
Lets hope that as a result of these favourable tax Moves New Zealanders will
r apid1y becone comp uter 1iter ate.
SPARE PARTS
Neil llpton (ph328T73) has somo spare joystick parts.
Yours sincerely,
Des Rowe
(Secretary)
ft
t ar an ak i rtews 1 ©t ter
Dear WACErs,
I thought it was about time that one of the out-of-towners contributed
something to the club newsletter. This article is in two parts; one to
tell about activities of Atari-ites in New Plymouth, and the other to
tell about my recent experience of attempting to find some Atari
hardware or software in the U.K.
Part 1 - New Plymouth has a considerable number of Atari users.
Sufficient to set up a users group of its own, known as T.A.C.E
(Taranaki Atari Computer Enthusiasts), with a membership totalling 33.
Not bad for a little place! The club meets the first Thursday of each
month at Einsteins’ New Plymouth shop. The group has been in existence
for about 15 months and is relatively unstructured. The meetings are
an opportunity for people with similar interests to swap ideas and
information.
Part 2-1 have just returned from a business trip to London, where I
attempted to find shops which sold Atari hardware (out of curiosity, as
I don’t need anything else at this time), or software (which 1 did
want). Perhaps I didn’t go to the right places but 1 found it
extremely difficult to find very much Atari hardware or software of any
kind around central London. The shops which had anything at all had a
very poor selection and seemed to be wanting to get out of that line.
the extent that I could have bought Atari Word Processor for
PdslO (NZ$25) ! SOOXL's are selling for Pdsi69(NZ$420). There is
certainly no shortage of Spectruros, and other unmentionable brands.
There appears to be an active second-hand computer market developing,
with a weekly magazine ’MifcroMarf (35p), specializing in this field.
While there I noticed the “1st London MicroMarket* advertised. So
early on Saturday morning I took the Underground to a station near to
the Wembley Conference Centre and the famous soccer ground. Again I
was to be disappointed! At a market with over 100 stalls and displays
THERE WAS NOT ONE PIECE OF ATARI HARDWARE!! I heard at least one other
disgruntled Atari owner mumbling about lack of support by Atari. On
the software side the news was not quite so bad - there was ONE stall
selling Atari software - and the prices - Pds5.95(NZ$15) for Telengard
and Legionnaire (the most expensive) down to Pdsl.95(NZ$5) far Stocks
and Bonds. Only a small selection, but quite good. Overall the show
very informative. There was a good display of printers and robots
in addition to many other brands of computers, peripherals, software,
etc. Very interesting.
Having come to the conclusion that Atari is about to sink out of sight,
at least in the U.K., I caught the Tube back to central London and
consoled myself by going to the stage show “Cats“ - fantastic!!!
Regards from New Plymouth.
Maurie Bath
P.S. Article written using Atariwriter and printed on a Super 5 - CP80.
v
*v
fi\I@ws and Reviews
by Mike Dunn, Co-Editor
We have received a number of phone calls from Atari explaining
they are trying to produce the 800XL's and provide customer support.
They are beginning with a new magazine, called The Atari Explorer,
edited by Neil Harris, formerly an editor of a similar Commodore
magazine. Mr. Harris appears to be very interested in customer sup¬
port as well as User Group support. Each issue will feature a User
Group. The first will be ours since we were the first! They want to
write about both large and small groups and show how they help Atari
owners. At the present time, the entire customer support group con¬
sists of only 6 people, so Atari is very interested in supporting user
groups all over in providing help such as our BugBusters we are trying
to form. We want to have a list of people willing to help others by
phone or mail. We'll put the list in the Newsletter with the hours
you’re available to be called. This will be for only as long as you wish,
and hopefully we of ACE as well as other groups all over the country
could set up a network to take the place of the support system former¬
ly supplied by Atari.
Many new items are going to be available soon for the Atari 800XL.
Rumor tells us our good friends at MicroBits in Albany, OR will be
coming out with a 1200 BAUD modem as well as a hard disk with an
OS by Bill Wilkinson of OSS. These will be sold at their usually
unbelievably low prices! AXLON will be releasing the fabled expan¬
sion interface box for tne 800XL and Batteries Included will add an 80
column board. I don’t know anything about any future Atari com¬
puters, but again doubt if they will have any compatibility with our
800's. However for the price (now $170 and dropping), you can not
beat an Atari system.
There are new products coming out for the Atari now. Synapase has
lowered the prices on all their products now if you get them direct
from their office at 5521 Central Ave., Richmond, CA 94804. They even
have very low prices on bulk orders for user group members. The Scar¬
borough System 25 N. Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591, has released a
new improved MasterType for $40. They have a very nice line of pro¬
grams, including the fabulous Your Net Worth (see below). AMDEK is
selling to user groups their 3" disk drives very cheaply. One of the
members of the Portland Atari Group has been able to get hold of a
large number of brand new Osbourne Executive computers, CP/M bas¬
ed portables with two disk drives, 7" Amber screen, 128K etc for only
$895 with a ton ol software. I bought one to go with my ATR 8000
CP/M system. If anyone is interested, call Jim at 503-646-3467 for
details.
This month, we introduce a new regular contributor, Ralph Walden.
Ralph will be writing a column for advanced users in Assembly
language and C. He has modified the Deep Blue C from APEX, and the
original author will allow ACE to put it our library for members! Not
quite ready, but expect a lot on C in the future. Ralph likes C so much
because tie can use the same program for various computers, in¬
cluding big mainframes. He was also the first volunteer for the
BugBusters for help in C and assembly language.
Reviews
by Mike Dunn
Your Personal NotWorth (Scarborough System, 25 N. Broadway, Tar¬
rytown, NY 10591, $80)
Brought to you by the people who produced MasterType and other
fine programs for a variety of computers comes this very comprehen¬
sive quick and easy to use home accounting system. When the
package arrives the first thing noticed is the very attractive presenta¬
tion of their produuct. It comes in a nice plastic box holding the
manual, two disks, and in front, a real silver dollar, so if you spend
your last penny on the package, you still have $1 worth of assets. The
manual is a model for the industry in its clarity, not only about using
the program, but the explanation of accounting in general. It explains
assets and liabilities, as well as when and why to use each. Also in¬
cluded in the package is the book by Silva Porter on money manage¬
ment. , ......
After booting in the program disk, you begin by establishing your
accounts. You have a choice of many accounts to use. There are 32
expense accounts, 30 asset accounts, 16 liability accounts and 16 in¬
come accounts, plus you can add your own. You then begin by enter¬
ing your initial balances for asset and liabilies. You can make entries,
post entries in a journal of accounts, make budgets, keep bank
records, make inquiries, and print out your complete balance state¬
ment anytime you want. You can have as many as 10 bank accounts,
350 different account categories, and up to 4000 transactions per disk.
Other features include household inventory, stock portfolio analysis,
all kinds of help features and trace features, easy bank statement
reconciliation, and many other features too numerous to mention.
tit tns'fy.
Not only is the manual outstanding, there are many help screens to
guide you in any operation. The screens are attractive and easy to use;
the special features of the Atari are well utilized, a surprising feature
in a program available for many computers. The program is written in
machine language and all operations are fast! If you need such a pro¬
gram, plan on spending several hours entering all your original ac¬
counts and data, then it is very easy to keep it up. A perfect program
to get for the New Year, and then next year, to get your complete
balance sheet, as well as all your income tax information, just press a
button!!
The XL Boss (Allen Macroware, FOB 2205, Redondo Beach, CA 90278,
$80)
From the makers of DiskWiz and PrintWiz comes Jerry Allen's first
hardware project. This is a chip for the 800XL or 1200XL (different one
for each) — an OS replacement. It allows you to run almost all of the
Atari Software without having to use the translator disk. Other
features include not having to hold down the OPTION key to de-select
BASIC, the ability to select the "hidden" 4k of RAM for word-
processors, spreadsheets, etc., and, most interesting, the ability to
have a RAM rather than ROM operating system. You can then easily
customize your operating system as you wish, without having to burn
an EPROM, etc. You can also use this feature to load in Jerry’s
monitor program MacroMon XL, then using the warmboot command,
boot in any disk, switch back and forth from the monitor to the pro¬
gram, and see how they do various tasks on commercial boot pro¬
grams. This monitor, besides the usual functions, has split screen
capabilities to compare two parts of memory, has a find command
can read and write directly to the disk.
The manual gives you ideas on how to modify your OS, such as
changing the cursor arrow keys to work without the shift key. As Jerry
always has done, the chip will be updated occasionally; the first one
out in 2 weeks to allow you to shift back and forth from the standard
OS and the Boss XL, so if anyone comes out with an expansion box,
etc., you can use it.
In using the chip, I find most programs will load in and run, but
some of the older commercial terminal programs didn't. The manual
says to switch back and forth between the various options of the XL
Boss and the Monitor, when using the function keys, to push the keys
just right — so true! The keys are very touchy and need to be pressed
the way Jerry states, not because of the chip, but because the keys
are not the best quality and are touchy. The installation of the chip in
my 800XL required taking the entire computer apart, but the total
operation was easy and well explained; it took about 20 minutes. The
1200XL model is $1fl more.
PrintWiz (Allen Macroware, $30.
This is an update of the program we have used for quite a while to
dump the pictures seen in ACE of our programs. Present owners can
send their old disk in and get the upgrade for only $5. New features in¬
clude adding the DMP-80, Panasonic KXB1090, Mannesman-Tally
Spirit 80 & IDS MicroPrism printers to the Epson, Nec, Prowriter and
Okidata already supported, a program to directly use Atari Paint and
Koala Pad files for dumping and using the LOGO cartridge with Print¬
Wiz. Jerry will continue to update the program and provide those up¬
dates at a nominal charge to present owners. {
By DA VID SHIRES
THE Atari video game and
computer distributor in
Australia, Futuretrcnics
Ply Ltd, has gone into
receivership, becoming the
first sizable victim of the
slowdown in the video
games industry in recent
months,.
! Two receiver-managers, Mr
| Geoff Crawford-Fish and Mr
Andrew Home, of Deloitte,
Haskins and Sells, were
appointed by the National
Australia Bank on Monday.
Creditors include the
National Australia Bank and
the company's two advertising
agencies, McCann-Erickson
and Concorde Advertising
and Marketing Pty Ltd, which
between them are owed more
than S500.000.
In a statement late last
night, Mr Crawford-Fish said
that the company had substan¬
tial orders for Christmas from
major retailers “which we are
going to supply”.
“We are negotiating with a
large public company in
regard to the future operations
of the business.” he said.
“There is no lack of confi¬
dence about the company’s
future."
Futuretronics gave no hint
that it was in trouble until
October 15, according to the
managing director of Con-
Continued :i „ 7
BimiPAS REVIEWS
The Writer’s Tool (OSS, $99 until Dec. 31, a $30 discount) is a
cartridge-based word processor of 20k with a disk containing utilities,
demos, and configuration files for numerous printers. This is a full-
function program which will meet the needs of the busiest writer. Yet I
believe it is easy enough to use in its default configuration for anyone
familiar with a typewriter.
You need at least a 48k system and a disk drive. Double density
drives are supported. Atari, Epson, Gemini, Prowriter, NEC, Okidata
and Comrex printers are directly supported by configuration files pro¬
vided on the disk. There is also a "generic” printer file for all others. In
addition, you may put printer control codes directly into a text file in
order to use unsupported printers more fully. It usually takes 6
keystrokes to toggle these unsupported features, but with a printer
like mine (IDS480) you're just happy to be able to use the features at
all!
OSS informs the user of one known bug: double-wide printing is not
properly supported when the line is justified. Double-wide printing
works fine in any other context. I think they mean only to speak of
supported printers here, because I experienced anomolous behavior
in any line in which I combine double-wide with any other printing. I
must say this same experience occurs with any word processor I've
used for unsupported printers.
The opening screen permits the user to begin typing text im¬
mediately. A prompt at screen bottom tells you to press the Option
key for the main menu. All full-function word processors should start
you off this way. But OSS is one of the few to do so. OSS has provided
the most extensive set of cursor controls I've ever seen on a word pro¬
cessor for the Atari. In addition to the usual Tab and cursor arrows,
you can move to Beginning or End of file, beginning or end of a line,
beginning of the next line, beginning of the next word, and beginning
of the next page or the previous page. The cursor may also be moved
by the search process. During a save operation to disk, if the cursor is
not at the top of file, you will be warned only part of the file will be
saved. If you answer “Y" to the prompt for saving all the file, the cur¬
sor will then move to top of file. You can also choose a block or
underline cursor, and you can adjust the rate at which the cursor
flashes.
Editing can be accomplished easily in either an insert mode or a
typeover mode. In addition to the usual insert commands, you can
also insert all available space (pushing all text after the cursor to the
end of the 24k buffer), allowing you to type in some material and then
delete all space to the next character to close up the gap. Most
editing commands require only one or two keystrokes, and this is
where you’ll find the economy of keystrokes the most important. Two
keystrokes will also "undelete" the last line deleted. This is a nice
feature. Previously entered text can be converted to upper or lower
case automatically with a 2-keystroke control sequence, saving you
some re-typing. The search and replace function also provides a
means to delete strings of text by failing to replace the string. You
may also delete all text before or after the cursor.
Block operations allow moving text by copying a block to a new
location, then deleting the original block. Blocks are highlighted in in¬
verse video. A status line at screen bottom will show you when in¬
verse video is active, and when the caps lock key is active. You are
also told how many characters and words are in the buffer, arid how
much space remains.
Supjjorted printers with the capability can print in the following
modes: emphasized, double-wide, italics, double-strike, underline,
superior sub-script. In addition, “split justification" (dividing a line at
any point, with characters to the left blocked left, those to the right
blocked right), soft hyphens (not used if the word fits in a line) and
hard spaces (forcing characters split by a space to be printed on the
same line) are available for your use.
Headers and footers can be set to any number of lines and can con¬
tain any editing or formatting commands available in the rest of text
with the addition of page numbers. The printer can be directed to stop
at any point (to change print 'wheels, for instance).
Dynamic page breaks are not displayed in the editing mode, but on
the print menu you can preview the printed text to see where the page
breaks occur. Print formatting commands include all the usual page
and line lengths and spacing, footer placement, centering, tabs,
margins and indentations. But they also include page eject, condi¬
tional page eject (to make sure certain lines may be printed on the
same page), and alternating the sides of split justified lines on even
numbered pages. A page wait command is available for single sheet
printing. And double-column printing is accomplished by the simple
expedient of telling the program how many spaces you want between
the two columns. All your other formatting commands are adjusted
automatically for the second column! (This is a great feature!). Two or
more files may be "linked” together for chain printing.
/ICE fw
The program makes good use of sound to warn ol errors and to note
different actions. There are 20 custom error messages to lead you to
the correct action after a mistake. A buzzer warns and the prompt is
re-displayed upon any other error. A Basic program is included on the
disk to create custom "macros" to set formats you commonly use and
which differ from the defaults provided. The 174-page manual comes
in a yellow vinyl 3 ring binder and describes how to incorporate
graphics into the body of your printed text. An errata sheet also pro¬
mises the future ability to program key sequences to translate to
graphic sequences. The example they give is Control-C micht be used
to print copyright symbol. They are also working on developing con¬
version programs to use to print graphics from MicroPainter, Koala
Pad, Atari Artist Pad, etc. files within your text files. If you buy the pro¬
gram now, you will receive the next update free of additional charge.
I like this program. The relatively high price may keep it out of most
people's libraries since other full-function word processors can be
purchased for as little as $50. But for someone who does a lot of
writing on the Atari, this program will pay for itself with its quality.
SynTrend (Synapse Software, $70) is a two disk package for
graphing, statistical analysis and forecasting. Those familiar with Syn-
Calc and SynFile+ will recognize the.pull-up menus which lead you
through the program. A student of statistics, or someone using
statistics a lot may find this package very helpful.
The two disks contain the programs SynStat and SynGraph.
SynStat is really a spreadsheet with some partiularly special func¬
tions for use in statitical analysis. SynTrend is fully compatible with
SynCalc and SynFile + , and with VisiCalc. Once the data file is
created or loaded into the program, the "Analyze Data" option on the
menu. The program then lists all the variables (column labels in the
spreadsheet) you used. Picking one, the choice ol "Descriptive” will
show the number of entries in the column, their average, standard
deviation, variance, standard error, minimum, maximum, and range.
The other analysis performed by SynStat is "Regression" analysis.
For this mode you select one variable as a dependent variable and one
or more independent variables. This mode is designed to show the
relationship between variables. The screen shows calculations for
coefficient, standard error, Rsquared, and AdjRsquared. The manual
advises the user to refer to a text book on statistics if these terms are
not familiar.
The results of regression analysis may also be shown on a screen
titled "Residual Analysis". Here columns showing the actual entries,
together with the predicted entries and the dillerence between actual
and predicted (residual). Any of these screenfulls of calculations can
be dumped to a printer.
SynGraph is used to create labeled, high resolution, color-coded
graphs from data entered in SynGraph, SynStat, SynCalc, SynFile + ,
or VisiCalc. You may choose a line graph, bar graph, scatter plot, or
pie chart. The bar graphs may be of the cluster or stacked types.
Graphs may be rescaled and relabeled. Up to three factors at a time
may be placed on the same graph. The graphs may be saved in disk
files for later use, or dumped to a compatible printer.
This is a fun package to use. And for small business use, one might
find it helpful for analysis of sales data. If you're a student, the printed
output will make your papers and projects very profession! indeed.
! From page 1
corde, Mr Ivan Abbott, when
it defaulted for the first time in
his three-year relationship
with the company.
That was followed by a
creditors’ meeting last Friday,
Mr Abbott said.
“We’ll be making an appli¬
cation late in the week for a
provisional liquidator to be
appointed,” he said yesterday,
although Mr Crawford-Fish
indicated that such an action
was unlikely to be necessary,
and negotiations with the
agency were continuing on the
matter.
/ The company had appar¬
ently been attempting to redi¬
rect its marketing efforts more
heavily toward computers
than software.
i The change in 'marketing
strategy saw the appointment
of McCannrErickson to han¬
dle the bulk of the company’s
advertising business at the
expense of Concorde as
recently as May.
It also saw the appointment
of new senior marketing and
public relations personnel.
But despite these moves,'the
company now faces receiver¬
ship just as it is moving into
the peak sales season in the
video game marketplace.
As recently as last month,
the Future!:onics manager for
public relations, Mr Greg
Every, told The Australian
Financial Review that Austra¬
lian < ! of Atari games this
year -d increased 10 to 15
per cent over last year's
figures, a*d estimated that
about'250,090 gime units had
been sold here ••.ee their
launch.
but he added that :>. : s of
hand-held video games had
levelled off while sides of
television and personal com¬
puter games were climbing.
Atari itself was in serious
trouble until carliir this year
when Warner Communi¬
cations Inc sold the company
to an ex-president of rival
manufacturer Commodore,
Mr Jack Tramiel.
Mr Tramiel immediately
sought to reposition tie trou¬
bled US manufacturer from a
video games company to a
computer comnanv.
Atari Appears Set to Cut 80QXL’s Price
By Michael W. Miller
Special to Tiik Asian Wall Street Journal
SUNNYVALE, California — Atari Corp.
apparently is planning to cut the price of its
800XL home computer but denied
speculation it is considering phasing out the
product.
The closely held computer and video-
game maker said it would announce next
week “a redirection in pricing and market¬
ing strategy for the 800XL.” The computer
currently retails for $179 and accounts for
about one-third of Atari’s current sales.
James Copland, Atari’s vice president
for marketing, stressed that next week’s
announcement wouldn’t foreshadow a move
to drop the product, which is the company’s
only computer on the market. “We fully
expect to manufacture and market the
800XL in 1985," he said.
Holiday Sales
Mr. Copland said that any price reduc¬
tion on the 800XL would be made solely to
improve holiday sales and to give Atari a
higher profile in the market. He denied
speculation by some industry analysts that
Atari is considering cutting the price to
generate quick infusions of cash to help
finance its ambitious new-product plans.
“We are not doing it for quick cash. We are
doing it to insure that our presence within
the market is realized," he said.
While emphasizing Atari’s commitment
to the 800XL. Mr. Copland noted that, as
reported, the company plans in January to
bring out a new computer line that includes
products of similar power to the 800XL as
well as ones two and four times as
powerful.
Meanwhile, he said, two factories in Asia
and Ireland that build the 800XL are
producing the machines at full capacity.
A spokesman for Commodore Interna¬
tional Ltd., Atari’s fierce rival in the home-
computer market, said several major
customers recently reported that Atari of¬
fered them the 800XL at $105 each whole¬
sale. Home-computer retail prices generally
aren't far above wholesale prices.
Commodore Won’t Match Cut
The spokesman said Commodore
wouldn’t respond to an Atari price cut with
similar reductions. “From our point of view
it’s a close-out and it's the beginning of a
discontinuation of the line,” he said.
Douglas Cayne, an industry analyst with
the Gartner Group, asserted that the
SOOXL’s days are numbered. “Atari is los¬
ing a great deal of credibility and market
momentum ... and the (SOOXL’s) technology
cycle is clearly at or -past its peak," he
said.
A pre-Christmas price reduction would
be true to form for Atari’s chairman. Jack
Tramiei. Before he bought Atari this sum¬
mer, Mr. Tramiei had turned Commodore
into a home-computer giant chiefly through
cutting manufacturing costs and slashing
prices.
Mr. Tramiei cut the SOOXL’s price this
summer, to $179 retail from its previous
range of $229 to $249. A second cut in price
would indicate that the first reduction didn’t
provide enough of a sales boost for the
800XL. Home-computer vendors generally
are reporting disappointing pre-holiday
sales.
Left Market
The Commodore 64 home computer,
which retails for $199, has 32% of the
home-computer market, compared with 3%
for the 800XL, according to InfoCorp, a
market-research company.
Several U.S. home-computer makers
have dropped out of the market in recent
years as consumer interest has failed to live
up to the industry’s once-lofty expectations.
Texas Instruments Inc., Timex Group
Inc., and Mattel Inc., among others, have
bailed out of the home-computer market in
the last two years because of persistent
losses.
As reported, Coleco Industries Inc.,
which makes the Adam computer, also
appears to be preparing to get out of the
market. Coleco said it isn’t “closing the
door on Adam,” but a supplier said Coleco
had canceled its contract for printers for
the machine.
By David Lammers
TOKYO (AP) — Sales of personarcom-
puters world-wide will exceed S80 billion in
1988, up from about $26 billion this year,
according to Dataquest, a California-based
technology research firm.
“Personal computer sales will continue
to see very steady growth, at a 25%
compounded annual growth rate," predicted
0. Ralph Finley, general manager of
Dataquesi’s technology information
division, preceding an industry seminar
here Thursday.
Mr. Finley also noted that the prices of
computer hardware are falling about 20% a
year.
‘Nowhere Near Bottom’
“We are nowhere near the bottom (of
personal computer prices),” he said. “Just
as mainframe (data processing) prices have
come down 20% per year for 20 years, and
minicomputer prices have dropped 20% for
10 years, we'll continue to see those same
curves for mainframe, minis, and now per¬
sonal computers.”
A personal computer system similar to
the Apple II model, including a floppy disk
drive, printer and monochrome monitor,
cost about $3,000 in 1980. The same system
now costs about $2,000, and the price will
drop to the $600 range by 1988, he said.
Similarly, more powerful 16-bit personal
'P ntcr Sulcs Seen Climb in
computers with larger internal memories,
color monitors, and much larger storage
capacities will drop to less than $3,000 in
1988 from about $6,000 now, he said.
The biggest increase in computer usage
will come in the office, according to
Dataquest, which estimates that, of all U.S.
white collar workers with the potential to
use a computer or data terminal, about
one-third will do so in 1984.
Joan Grim, manager of a joint market
research effort by Dataquest and its parent
company, A.C. Nielsen Co., said many peo¬
ple who come into contact with small com¬
puters at the office or at school are buying
other computers for the home. A.C. Nielsen
recently was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet
Corp.
About 20,000 randomly selected house¬
holds throughout the U.S. four times a year
are being asked about their attitudes toward
personal computers. Miss Grim said.
In November 1983 only 6.2% of the house¬
holds had a personal computer, with 4.4% of
those having a computer costing less than
$500 and 1.8% having a computer costing
$500 or more.
Six months later, in May 1984, a 60%
increase was recorded. About 9.4% of the
contacted households owned a computer,
6.37o with an under-$500 machine and 3 . 1 %
with a computer costing $500 or more, she
said.
“Our estimate now is that the growth (in
home computer ownership) will continue to
about the 18% level,” Miss Grim said. “It
will take some kind of breakthrough for if to
exceed that level, with the breakthrough
probably being in the area of com¬
munications."
Nearly one-fourth of the $500-or-over
computers are equipped with modems,
devices which allow computer data to be
transmitted over telephone lines, she said.
Computer Shopping
She added that home computer pur¬
chases might be stimulated by such tele¬
communication services as computer
shopping.
Most of the more expensive homes com¬
puters are used for word processing as well
as playing video games, which continue to
be popular because of their growing
sophistication.
“Games will probably continue to be the
computer application used most often, but
they are not the reason why people buy
computers," she said. She added that 80%
of the computer owners said they were
“very satisfied" with their investment.
“Once the computer is in the home,
people find uses for it. The hard part, for
the manufacturers, is to get one into the
home,” Miss Grim said.
Atari boomtimes . . the hurut a ironies Australia showroom at Botany, Sydney in li)B2.
HE
MAN
FALL OUT
Futuretronics Pty Ltd, the Australian distributor of
Atari video games and computers, was placed in
receivership last week. Another nail in the coffin of
the group which brought us Pac Man and E.T. games
and in eight years sped from nothing to a $3 billion
annual turnover and then back to obscurity. PHILLIP
MCCARTHY reports from New York
M O COMPANY in recent busi¬
ness history belter fitted the
definition of a corporate
meteor than the video game
: computer outfit. Atari.
In eight short and spectacular years it
flashed from nowhere to being a company with
a $US3 billion turnover and 11,000 employees.
Overnight it flashed back into darkened
obscurity. When the business publishing giant
McGraw Hill printed a slim, corporate history
of Atari in June it simply and fittingly called
the bool. Zap!
Last week Australia — like a lot of other
Atari markets since the big burnout at the end
of 1982 — got a spray of the cosmic fallout.
Atari's Australian videogame and computer
distributor, futuretronics Pty Ltd, went into
receivership alter it defaulted on debts to
creditors including its two advertising agen¬
cies, McCann Erickson and Concorde, to
which it owed more than $500,000. But the
receivers said the) were confident about, its
long term health
Little explosions like that — sort of like the
bleeps in one of the company’s Pac Man,
Space Invaders or E.T. Games — have been
cropping up in Atari's troubled galaxy
tegular!) as its latest owner searches for a
solution. Atari changed hands in July. The
giant Warner Communications Group, owner
for the past eight years, decided finally to
unload it.
So for the bargain price of SUS240 million
— remember this was a company that was
making $150 million a quarter. 18 months
earlier — a tough entrepreneur called Jack
Tr amici took it over. He has been busy cutting
its staff back to 1,000, turning over its
management and moving most of its American
production to low cost Asian plants.
v - It is not an easy task and, as the Australian
receivership attests, it is not at all clear that it
will work Lssentially Atari fell to earth with
such a thud because it was built on a couple of
fads. And the fads went as quickly as they
came. The first was video games and the
second was the cheap, limited home computer.
They are often classed together at the "junk"
end of the computer business. After the novelty
of playing pac Man and E.T. wore 6IT
consumers wanted computers that could
perform more utilitarian functions. Two things
hap|>ened: more sophisticated personal com¬
puters got a lot cheaper and competition got
mote fierce at the cheaper end.
Atari and rivals like Mattel, Coleco,
Commodore and Texas Instruments started a
round of ferocious inventory or pure survival
costcutting. Texas Instruments, for example,
decided to get out of the field all together.
Some models it had once sold for $US 1,100 it
started discounting to SUS49 last Christinas
just to clear its stock.
Whatever market was left to them was
saturated at a level that produced very little
piolil for any of them. The industry lost $1
billion in 1983.
Two of the ramifications of the Atari
collapse have gone beyond the gee-whiz
business of computer games and cheap
computers that it once dominated.
Atari at one stage was threatening to sink
Warner Communications — or at least make
that motion picture, cable and publishing giant
susceptible to takeover bids like the one that
Rupert Murdoch mounted - because its
extraordinary losses were putting the whole
corporation in the red. Last year Atari lost
SUSSJ6 million.
Warners as a whole ended the year with a
loss of $US424 million. It share price plunged
from SUS63 to $USI9. Which, of course, is
why it sold.
Another of the wider repercussions of the
Atari debacle is that it undercut the economic
theory about employment trends in developed
countries.
The theory was that as jobs disappeared on
the assembly lines of manufacturing hi tech
industries would replace them. Former Atari
plants in hi tcch centres like California’s
Silicon Valley and Texas’s El Paso are now as
deserted as the steel plants of Pcnnsylvannia
and Ohio: the Atari high tech jobs went
offshore too.
Yet a few years ago Atari was the model of
the way forward for American business.
Typically, it was the sensational concept of one
very smart man, Nolan Bushnail, who will go
dow n in history as the father of the video game.
He was the first to capitalise on the possibilities
of hooking a television set up to a miniature
computer.
He was very smart. He got out with his
millions early on and invested them in sensible
things like piz/a parlours and venture capital.
In 1976 Warner’s flamboyant chairman
Steven Ross bought Atari from Bushnail for
$US28 million. For some years it was not a bad
business and enhanced his reputation. In a
couple of years it came to represent half of the
conglomerate’s sales and 60 per cent of its
profit. And so Ross and his lop brass pretty
much left it alone.
It was a big mistake, of course; but at the
time it seemed sensible because the head office
crowd did not know much about computers or
games.
When that best selling anatomy of corporate
success. In Pursuit of Excellence, was pub¬
lished it cited Atari as one of the prime
examples of excellence in action. Busines¬
sweek magazine recently stated quite baldly
that the company should never have been
there: it breached virtually all the rules the
authors themselves laid down for success.
One of the rules was a company’s need to
keep an ear close to the ground to detect and be
ahead of changes in consumer preferences.
Certainly, that was a major failing at Atari.
The company’s video games were so wildly
successful that Atari executives were deluded
into complacency and did not see fundamental
shifts taking place in the consumer electronics
market away from computer games and
towards home computers.
By the time they picked up on that the
market was moving away from home comput¬
ers and towards personal computers. They
never caught up Their home computers were
not perceived in the market place to be any
better than the opposition. Its 400XL and its
K00XL were also very often more expensive
than the comparable Commodore model.
But the optimism of Atari’s runaway results
filtered up in Warner’s. Because Atari was
pumping between SUS100 million and $200
million a quarter into the parent company
Warner embuiked on a some risky ventures —
like a very expensive cable television scheme
with American Express — convinced that it
would always have Atari’s cash flow to fall
back on.
When the awful truth finally dawned
Warner's and Atari tried all sorts of things.
They started moving production offshore.
And they started making software that
would fit competitors' computers (which
seemed to be a tacit admission that if you can’t
beat them join them). Finally they brought in a
marketing honcho from Philip Morris ciga¬
rettes, James J Morgan, as chief executive; he
came promising to “Minimise bureaucracy and
duplication of effort".
lie had a point: even at Atari’s Silicon
Valley headquarters only two of his 15 senior
executives worked in the same building as he
did.
Morgan vowed: “I believe over the next 12
months this beleagured company is going to
surprise a lot of people."
A couple of months later, however. The New
York Times reported: “So far Mr Morgan has
not been able to stem Atari's problems.
“After announcing the introduction of lour
new computer products only two, the 600XL
and the 800XL have made it on to the market
so far. Atari’s entry into the software market
has been poorly timed, its much heralded
Ataritel division has never gotten off the
ground and no new computer products arc
expected in the near future.
"Some analysts estimate that Atari still has
some $300 million to $500 million in write olf
ahead."
In January this year Morgan did announce a
major shake up of Atari’s management There
had long been evidence that lack of supervi¬
sion by the parent company had led to
questionable practices in the subsidiary. In
September 1983 Morgan’s predecessor as
chairman, Raymond Kasser, was charged over
breaches of the corporate code.
But it has all badly dented Steve Ross's
image as an astute businessman. At Warner’s
there has been speculation that he might lose
his preminent role. Fred Anschcl, an analyst
with Dean Witter Reynolds, said: "Unless he
can keep all these people at bay it is difficult to
see where Steve Ross will end up."
In Zap!author Scott Cohen wrote: "The role
of Steve Ross in the Atari problem was hard to
figure. Many analysts and stockholders
blamed the mess on Steve Ross and his
decentralised policies and laissez fairc
approach."
How could Ross, he asked, let a subsidiary
that contributed 60 per cent of group profit gel
so out of control?
Certainly it was the debilitated state that
Atari’s staggering losses had burnt on to
Warner’s bottom line that prompted Austra¬
lian publisher Rupert Murdoch's abortive, but
profitable, bid to take the patent over earlier
this year. Murdoch started by buying 6.7 per
cent of the company in December last year.
Later he announced plans to buy between 25
per cent and 49 per cent. Finally Warner's
bought him off — but not before selling oft'
Atari themselves.
Most likely, if Murdoch had succeeded in
the bid he would have sold Atari also: the last
thing he needed was another lemon.
Buyer Jack Trimicl, 51, was no newcomer to
the low priced computer business. It was he
who founded Commodore 25 years earlier and
brought a certain acumen to its operations. But
he had resigned from that company in January
after a dispute with its board over whether he
could give his son a top job there
The perception was that he probably wanted
Atari so he could settle a few old scores with
those he left behind at Commodore.
He has already had a couple of brawls with
them. Commodore sued Atari when Trimiel
recruited four key employees from them.
Commodore wanted ail assurance that they
would not use their inside knowledge of
Commodore products and techniques. Later
Trimicl sued when Commodore took over a
small computer firm called, Arnica
He claimed that Arnica, developer of a new
and efficient computer, had already agreed to
sell out to him.
He has also been spectacularly putting the
cleaners through Atari again — sacking stall,
closing plants and discontinuing lines
Trimiel is taking Atari into the mote
lucrative personal computer area which will pit
it against successful firms like IBM and Apple.
In an interview this week Trimiel disclosed
plans for two new personal computers Alan
plans to introduce next year. He said they
would sell for under SUS1000.
He also announced a cut in the price of the
company’s 800XL home computer by about
one third. TTns was because of savings he had
made in manufacutring costs since acquiring
Atari. He estimated that sales of the 8O0XL
would reach 500,000 in the last six months of
the year and generate revenue of up to SUS100
million.
In describing his strategy for Atari’s new
machines, T rimiel outlined a strategy similar to
the one he used to build Commodore selling at
cheap prices through mass market channels.
He said: “I’ll sell personal computers to
individuals. I do not intend to sell actively sell
products to the office "
He also claims that the company »* solvent
again. But one thing is certain Alan docsti t
want E.T. phoning home in the near future.
POINT PIPER
AUCTION
Modern palatial Home or 2 apartments
This 6 bit contem{X>rary homo has it all.
Pool and sauna included. Spacious enter¬
taining areas Prestigious location. Archi¬
tect designed and soundly built. Council
approved lor conversion to 2 luxury apart¬
ments.
Details DOUBLE BAY 327 7971, a h. 90 1120.
Co-agent, RICHARDSON & WRENCH DOUBLE BAY 327 5825 Ext. 2.
8 CROSS STREET, DOUBLE BAY 327 7971.
Raine & Horne
Pty Lid
atarilab starter
SET
A tool for measuring temperature in
laboratory experiments, for ages
nine and up.
HARDWARE:
Atari micros (16K
cartridge)
SOURCE:
Atari, Inc.
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
COST:
$89.95
BACKUP:
Not provided
PREVIEW:
Contact retail outlet
L ESCRIPTION: HOW FAST
I does a cold soda “lose its cool”
in a warm room? Do crickets
chirp faster as the summer nights get
hotter? 1 he Atarilab Starter Set gives
you a practical, inexpensive method of
answering these, and many other ques¬
tions, by turning your microcomputer into
a laboratory for conducting scientific ex¬
periments.
This first module in the Atarilab Sci¬
ence Series is used specifically for measur¬
ing temperature. (Other modules are be¬
ing designed for measuring light intensity,
degree of angle, and heart rate, and will
be available soon.)
The Starter Set comes with an AtariLab
interface, which you plug into the game
port of your computer. You then insert
the temperature module cartridge, and
connect the temperature sensor to the
interface device.
Tlius equipped, your Atari Laboratory
Station can measure temperature
changes (between 23 and 113 degrees
Fahrenheit) over a period of time (from
ten seconds to 24 hours), record and ana¬
lyze the data, display results graphically
or in a thermometer bulb pictured on the
screen, and print them out for a hard
copy record.
Ihe program setup and instructions
are detailed in the Starter Set manual and
project guide. This useful manual also-dis¬
cusses some of the principles of heat and
temperature, and describes seven begin¬
ning projects you can do that will enhance
your understanding of the software and
equipment, while experimenting with ev¬
eryday phenomena. These include, for
example: evaporation, condensation, and
dew point; graphing temperature changes
over time; Newton’s Law of Cooling; and
the effect of salt on ice.
The manual includes reproducible ta¬
bles and graphs for recording information
as you experiment. It also suggests how
to write your own programs, in BASIC
and Logo, that will record and analyze
temperatures and display them on the
screen.
Applications: Due to space require¬
ments, the Starter Set may be most prof¬
itably used with groups of students or in
class demonstrations. Teachers could as¬
sign small groups to a particular project,
or students could design their own proj¬
ects and test them at the laboratory sta¬
tion.
Comments: As an introduction to scien¬
tific inquiry through hands-on experi¬
ments, the Atarilab Starter Set is very
complete. By “doing” rather thaifhear-
mg, students can grasp the true nature
of the concepts they are studying.
The program also offers an excellent
visual display of graphing. We heard sev¬
eral students comment, as they were us¬
ing the program, “Now I understand what
a graph is.”
The Starter Set is also remarkably easy
to hook up and use. It allows for the
printing of graphs and data, which is im-
• P orta nt in evaluating and interpreting re¬
sults. It also makes it easy to convert
Fahrenheit temperatures to Celsius, and
to change time scale limits, making it
quite adaptable to different experiments.
It does not, however, allow the user to
set temperature gradients, which is a real
drawback. This means that for some ex¬
periments you have to manipulate fluid
temperatures to fit the graphing capabili¬
ties of the program. To remedy this, the
temperature scale should be.extended, to
well below freezing and slightly above
boiling. Also, it would be nice if a second
probe were available as an option.
The Starter Set is a good example of
valuable computer use in the science and
math curriculum. The computer can pro¬
vide quick and accurate measurements
and rapid translations of data—all of
which encourage further questioning and
experimenting.
Teachers who spend time in the lab
with their students should find lots of
applications for the Starter Set, and will
find it easily adaptable to their needs.
Students will also come up with their
own ideas for using the set—and this is
perhaps the real value of the program. It
is a tool, one that provides a context for
you and your students to supply the con¬
tent. The computer records the data; you
do the thinking.
Reviewed by:
Bill Platt, Teacher
Dave Bliss, Teacher
Redwood Valley Middle School
Redwood, CA
i U.S. Software
Maker Challenges
‘Hackers’ Trying
to Break Codes \
By William M. Bulkeley
Special to The Asian Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK — Most businesses fear
computer hackers. But, an Albany, New
York company is challenging them.
: Elite Software Systems Inc. makes A
software program called Encomp that
encrypts information stored on computer
disks. The $99.95 program makes the disk
unreadable without the right password, and
Elite is offering $10,000 to anyone who can
break its system using a personal computer.
The contest is an effort to distinguish
Elite from the numerous companies that
have developed systems to foil hackers.
Three Replies So Far
; The company has sent out 6,000 entry
forms but has received only three replies —
all wrong, says Philip Cohen, vice president
of sales and marketing. A systems analyst,
he says, “called up to bust my chops” and
outlined a way to crack the code using a
million-dollar mainframe computer. That
doesn’t count, .Mr. Cohen says; only
personal-computer users need apply.
A North Haven, Connecticut company.
Optimum Electronics Corp., recently
completed a similar contest. First prize: its
president's 1984 Pontiac Trans Am. Based
on a mailing list compiled by the Computer
Security Institute of Northboro, Massachu-
' setts. Optimum sent out 55,000 post cards |
challenging people to crack the device it I
developed to protect computers from un¬
authorized entries.
Donald Moseley, the marketing vice
president who came up with the idea — but
not the car — says more than 750 people
called the company’s computer. But no one
managed to obtain the Secret message that
would have entitled them to the car.
j Risky Challenge
' Challenging people to break codes can be
risky. Several years ago Ralph Merkle, a
• computer scientist, offered a $1,000 reward
to anyone who could break a new type of \
code he devised as a graduate student at
j Stanford.
j Last month he wrote a check to Ernest
F. Brickell, a scientist at the Sandia Nation¬
al Laboratories in New Mexico, who spent
two years working on the problem. To solve
the code, Mr. Brickell devised a formula
| that can be run on a Cray supercomputer in
1 less than two hours. But renting time on the
Cray costs about $2,000 an hour, Mr.
Brickell says.
Despite such risks, officials at Elite
Software are confident that their system is
secure. Adds. Mr. Cohen, “We will not pay
for the psychiatric bills if anyone has a
I nervous breakdown trying to crack it."
1
1 -
li
1
{'
k
fi¬
ll
Do Drives
Need
Cleaning’?
t .Xi K v
, By PETER H. LEWIS
E ffOW often should diskette
g I drives be cleaned? A sur-
J l v ey of manufacturers,
computer dealers and serv¬
ice technicians yielded conflicting
•suggestions.
The advice seems to fall into two
camps. The people who build and in¬
stall the disk drives said cleaning is
rarely necessary, and some of them
emphatically warned that the drives
can be seriously damaged by the
inexpensive cleaning kits sold in most
stores.
On the other hand, some of the peo¬
ple who sell Uje computers and the
disk drive cleaning kits recoiled at
the thought of letting even a week go
by without swabbing the decks.
Although fancy cleaning kits can
cost as much as $50, the most popular
versions cost about $10 and consist of
a slightly abrasive floppy disk clean¬
ing pad and perhaps a vial of alcohol.
Why would one need a disk drive
cleaner in the first place? Floppy
- disks inevitably introduce tiny bits of
grit into the drive unit, either through
hitchhiking dust particles or as loose
flecks of the magnetic material that
holds data on the diskette. If this de¬
bris builds up significantly, it can
harm or even ruin other diskettes.
But how long does it take for a sig¬
nificant risk to develop? According to
a representative in the service de¬
partment of one of the large retail
computer franchises in Manhattan,
[ users should clean their drives “at
least” once a week. This was echoed
at a several other retail computer
dealerships. ,
Such advice makes computer
manufacturers howl “fatal error.”
“Perhaps once every six months,”
a technical adviser at Kaypro al¬
lowed, “but you wouldn’t want to
clean it much more than that. Some
kit disk cleaners on the market are
mildly corrosive and if used fre¬
quently might harm the disks.”
A spokesman at Apple said the ,
company does not recommend the
cleaning kits at all. “Users who try
the store-bought cleaners could end
up messing up the drives more than
fixing them,” he said. “If there’s a i
problem, take the drive to an author- j
ized dealer.”
Even Verbatim of Sunnyvale, ;
Calif., which makes Datalife, one of t
the most popular kits, says cleaning (
the drives daily is silly unless “hun¬
dreds or thousands” of diskettes are
run in and out regularly. For the
average home or office user, a Verba¬
tim technician said, once every
month or two would suffice. He
denied that his company’s kit would
harm disk drives unless it was used
improperly. Verbatim engineers ran
a cleaning disk nonstop for two days
— the average use Is a few seconds —
and there was no measurable wear,
he said.
Obviously there is a disagreement,
but the weight of the evidence cer¬
tainly goes against frequent cleaning,
say, more than once every few
months. If the drive has been func¬
tioning well, the adage “if it ain’t
broke don’t fix it” would seem sensi¬
ble. If the drive is not functioning
well, it probably requires the services
of a qualified repair technician.
A recommended course of action
would be to invest the cost of one of
the cleaning kits in Henry F. Beech-
hold’s “The Plain English Repair and
Maintenance Guide for Home Com¬
puters” (Simon & Schuster, $14.95).
Mr. Beechhold gives clear and well-il¬
lustrated instructions on how to prop¬
erly clean a disk drive in just a few
minutes and for just a few cents
worth of materials.
Fun and Gaines
Using a computer exclusively to do
spreadsheets is like owning a car ex¬
clusively to drive to the dentist, as far
as many computer game enthusiasts
are concerned.'There comes a time to
put the top down, hit the accelerator
and have some fun.
Despite all the somber intonations
about integrated environments, data
base blueprints and the like, some
estimates say half of all software
being sold is for fun and games.
So, who makes the best games? 1
More than 10,000 readers of Elec¬
tronic Games magazine voted on that
question, and winners were honored
recently with the industrv’s equiva¬
lent of the Oscars, the Arkies.
This year’s top Arkie award went to
“Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on
One,” distributed by Electronic Arts
(2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo,
Calif. 94403, telephone 415-571-7171).
It costs $40 and is available for the
Apple II family, Atari, Commodore
64 and I.B.M. PC, and requires a joy¬
stick and disk drive.
Magazine reviews have been en¬
thusiastic. The software designers
did not just license the names of the
two professional basketball stars;
they actually sat down with Julius
Erving and Larry Bird and worked
with the players to impart each
man’s special moves and strategies
into the software characters.
Arkies were awarded in more than
20 categories. The full list of winners
will be published in the January issue
of Electronic Games magazine.
I This past week I attended a seminar in the San Francisco area In,
! two days. Since I don't get down to that region very often l took the
opportunity to plan several meetings while I was there Theresas
much to do. so I scheduled 4 days in the Bay area.
My first stop was a visit with our (riends at ANTIC maqazine Yn„
US a ER GROUP'-'in h m r rh' be PlaCln9 3 S,r 2"9er emphasis on
UbcK oROUPo in the future. They will be workina clnspiv in <
for, with MICROBITS and OSS (Optimized"system
viding meaningful support to the User Groups. ANTIC will also be
making a special effort to keep you all abreast of the current news
from or about ATARI. {More about ATARI later). I spent a very pleasant
afternoon w„h Jim Capparel and Gary Yost, discu^tteTse!
Group issue as well as technical qoodies such as HARD nirtK
tor me S xf X co A m NS, t ON C ^ ASSIS ' 80 C ° LUMN CARDS and RAMONS
WATFRFRnNT PU h erS (h ary ^ ' had a very P lRasant lunch at THE
Wi amticT ' the prawns are outrageously delicious. Before I
ini ,mo T P ^ prese . nted me with a copy of "THE BEST OF ANTIC
vo ume 1 In some of my slower moments I have perused this line
vo ume and wish I could give you a review, but am a bit busy as yet l
Them in Hn y ' hiS '° 3 TRUSTED member of ACE long enough foi
them to do a proper review next month ^
™ e h ne , Xt day 1 visi,ed OSS. Bill Wilkinson and Mark Rose were kind
enough to devote the afternoon to discussions of exactly which
nR VF Vu e l ' mp ° rtant 10 have in a DOS (or a PARALLEL HARD
cessor 8 S ° demons,rated the nR w WRITER'S TOOL word pro-
AT LAST, somebody has a really powerful DOS comoa* ; b!p w-wd
processor. (I have alwa>*s used LETTER PERFECT bv i IK and
my artides ready tor submission has been an^ise in s^S
L norm 3 ! ly transmit them over the MODEM ) The WRITER S
tool has NEARLY ALL of the capabilities of LETTER PERFECTitm)
and 'f " aer ' ,riend b to boot - Don't get me wrong, I think Letter Perfect
will rnnT "T' pcworlul word Processor available for the Alar, and
niii 1 oniheTh^r " PerS °" al MleS ' ° SS Pas a ~ ^
KERR 7rid JOHN 6 RKRiTrii 3 blt . early in order ,0 mee! with BRIAN
KfcHR and JOHN SKRUCH, marketing managers of Hardware and
fbouTwhin P m C nhTh' ' Wen a in '° ,he meetind wi,h some reservations
BHan a^d nh 9h K h if r ^ ^ a " d WaS very P'ea^rantly surprised.
Brian and John are both enthusiastic and knowledgeable They are ex-
ATAR y |„ a r, r 7' 'T Pircums,aoces resulting in the virtual death of
ATARI, Inc. and are determined to avoid those pitfalls There is a nnw
spin, a, ATARI. Indeed, there is a new ATARI at ATARL Take heart The
venerable 800 XL will continue to be produced in quantities and at
prices which will probably induce people such as myself to go’out and
buy an extra or two. (spares, you know)
rJn? pedpheral Products the old ATARI released with their equip-
™ nl h! .t'" 9 evaluated ' and ,hose not measuring up will be drop-
ped, while the company will pick up lines of TOP QUALITY peripherals
o replace them with. NEW and exciting software is being selected for
future release. Negotiations are under way with various suppliers ven¬
dors marketing types.and such.
I expect the January CES to be a banner event for ATARI. I have
reason to believe they will have some SHOW STOPPERS!! Overall I
think the purchase of ATARI by the Tramiel family is probably going to
TarkicdT™??,,' 0 llappen t0 A,ari since lamentable take-over by
WARNER COMMUNICATIONS. After all, If Jack Tramiel can take a
second-rate turkey of a computer like the COMMODORE 64 and make
it the NUMBER 1 SELLER among home computers, think what he can
ATARl'h the help ° f hiS SOnS and 3 FIRST RATE com Puter like the
ATARI USER GROUPS will not be abandoned. Many of you are
aware the old ATARI spent a small fortune on “support" in the past
The support amounted ,o very tittle in the way of worthwhile or
legitimate assistance to the user groups. While the new ATARI is not
able to spend large amounts of cash on this, a plan has been
ataT?™ ’° all0W lhe USER GROUPS, 3RD PARTY VENDORS, and
ATARI CORP. to mutually help each other to the fullest extent at a
minimum of cost. ANTIC, OSS, MICROBITS, and CHAOS were heavily
involved in the development of the new system. You will undoubtedly
hear more of this in the next few months.
I came away from San Francisco with a deep sense of relief a, the
attitudes and willingness to commit time and resources displayed
among those I spoke with. Peace be upon you, my children; all is well
in the land of ATARI,
^K£
— Kirt E, Stockwell
Roving past president
Computer magazines’ programme for
reader friendliness
The boom in computer maga¬
zines is ending. Smart publishers
are now preparing for the bust.
of the most recent in Britain.
Indeed, it has beaten MSX ma¬
chines into the marketplace. But
The number of non-academic other magazines have already
computer magazines in America folded up. Jr and Desktop Com-
has almost doubled in the past
four years, to around 200. In
Britain, computer buffs can
choose from 127 magazines,
160% more than in 1981. This
growth has given publishers a
batch of entrepreneurial success
stories to rival those pouring out
of Silicon Valley itself. It may
soon also provide some spectacu¬
lar failures. Competition is
fierce, and the glutted market for
computer magazines is changing
as fast as the technology.
A few years ago, there were
only two types of computer mag¬
azine readers: data-processing
professionals and games-playing,
programme-writing amateurs.
Today personaf computers are
popping up on the desks of even
technically near-illiterate execu¬
tives and professionals. Although
advertisers of everything from
electronic spreadsheets to whisky
want to tout their wares to such
an audience, computer-magazine
publishers are not proving equal¬
ly adept at reaching them. With
the increase in the number of
computer magazines, advertisers
are becoming more selective.
Some advertisers—particularly
producers of business software—
are even switching to general-
interest publications in search of
new customers.
Today’s computer magazines
fall into two broad categories:
© General ones, such as Person¬
al ComputihpsrrdtJatamarion in
America and Computer Weekly
in Britain, which aim at comput¬
er-users with similar interests (ie,
business computing or games-
playing) no matter what sort of
machine they own.
© So-called machine-specific ti¬
tles, such as Softalk/Apple and
Sinclair User. They concentrate
on a particular type of computer
and review all the software and
hardware available for it, what¬
ever task the new products are
meant to perform.
New magazines still appear all
the time. Hayrnarket's MSX
Computing, aimed at users of
new Japanese computers using
the MSX operating system, is one
puting, both published by CW
Communications, were two in
America to close. JR’s demise
shows the perils of machine-spe¬
cific titles: it flopped along with
IBM’s PC Jr, the computer at
whose users Jr was aimed. In
Britain, Soft, Bunch Books’
monthly about software, and
Computer Merchandising Inter¬
national, an International Thom¬
son Business Press publication
aimed at the European market,
folded earlier this year.
On both sides of the Atlantic,
advertising revenues decide the
fate of computer magazines. At
first glance, advertising seems to
be booming. In the first half of
this year, the total advertising
revenue of American computer
its total in the same six months of
1980. For successful publishers,
computer magazines are a gold¬
mine—even by the magazine in¬
dustry’s well-padded standards.
In America, gross profit margins
of 25%-plus are commonplace—
more than double the industry’s
average. But observers reckon
that the bulk of advertisers' cash
goes to established titles. Smaller
magazines and newcomers can
starve amid their rivals’ plenty.
Traditional, computer-hobby¬
ist magazines have been put on
the harshest diet. Their readers
have low incomes—many are stu¬
dents—so not the sort whom ad-
magazines was $85m, five times vertisers want to reach. In Brit-
-• ‘'f" % i.
America’s top 10 computer magazines-
-by circulation, 1983
Title
Frequency
Circulation
Publisher
Audience
Launched
Computers and Electronics
(Monthly)
590,084
Ziff-Davis
Computer professionals/
business users
1954
Personal Computing
(Monthly)
536,150
Hayden
Business users
1976
Byte
(Monthly)
409,387
McGraw-Hill
Computer professionals
1975
Family Computing
■ (Monthly)
315,830
Scholastic Inc
Hobbyists
1983
Popular Computing
(Monthly)
301,829
McGraw-Hill
Hobbyists
1979
Compute!
(Monthly)
289,048
ABC Publishing
Computer professionals
1979
Creative Computing
(Monthly)
245,066
Ziff-Davis
Computer professionals/
business users
1974
Electronic Games
Magazine
(Monthly)
192,260
Reese
Hobbyists
1981
Softalk/Apple
(Monthly)
165,522
Softalk
Apple owners
1980
PC World
(Monthly)
161,621
PC World Comms
IBM PC owners
1982
Sources: Foho; Advertising Age; Standard Rale and Data Service Inc.
CSV
Britain’s top 10 computer magazines 1 —by circulation, first half 1984
Title
Your Computer
Computer Weekly
Computing
Computer News
Sinclair User
Personal Computer World
Computer and Video Games
Micro User
Engineering Computers
Popular Computing Weekly (Weekly)
Frequency
I Monthly)
Weekly)
Weekly)
Weekly)
Monthly)
Monthly)
Monthly)
Monthly)
Bimonthly)
Circulation! Publisher
154,334 IPC
112,265 IPC
111,332 VNU
100,000* CWC
96,271 EMAP
93,625 2 VNU
87,625 EMAP
72,802 Database
57,079 Findlay
56,052 Sunshine
Audience
Hobbyists
Computer professionals
Computer professionals
Computer professionals/
business users
Sinclair owners
Computer professionals/
business users
Hobbyists
Micro-computer users
Computer professionals/
engineers
Hobbyists
Launched
1981
1966
1973
'Exdudes Big K, MSX Computing and What MSX. which claim print runs ot 100.000. but for which there are no audited sales figures, fAudit Bureau
of Circulation figures, ‘‘Jul-Doc, 1963. "Controlled circulation. Source; Sportscene Specialist Press.
THE ECONOMIST NOVEMBER 10,1984
mfJm
ain, the 85 or so computer
magazines aimed at the business
reader are buoyant; the 40 or so
magazines that go to the home-
computer owners are the wobbly
ones. In America, the number of
advertising pages in hobbyist
computer magazines dropped by
nearly 30% in the year to Sep¬
tember, 1984, while those aimed
at business users rose by 10%. At
nearly $19m, business-computer
magazines took nearly twice as
much in advertising revenues as
hobbyist ones.
Jobs ads alone are likely to
provide the business side of the
computer press with a steady in¬
come. Hobbyist magazines are
less secure. In Britain, home-
computer makers such as Sinclair
and Commodore plan advertising
campaigns costing £4m and £6m
respectively this Christmas, but
the retail market, is sent to 7,000
software dealers and some 500
software houses.
Hobbyist magazines, mean¬
while, are setting their sights on
the sort of businessman who has
been inspired by the personal
computer on his desk to buy a
second computer for his home.
Even Sinclair User has optimisti¬
cally started publishing reviews
of word-processing packages
alongside those of games.
In America, Dun & Brad-
street’s Datamation and CW
Communications’ Computer-
world are pioneering examples of
magazines that try to appeal to
the general business reader who
may be semi-literate in comput¬
ers. But the irony of computer-
magazine publishing is that the
most successful English-language
computer magazine. McGraw-
BUSINESS BRIEF
Britain’s lop 10 computer magazines— by ad pages, 1983
Title
Publisher
Ad pages*
(Jan-Sep 1984)
Computing
VNU
5,500
Computer Weekly
IPC
4,000
Personal Computer World
VNU
2,400
Computer News
CW Communications
1,600
Micro Decision
VNU
1,400
Personal Computer News
VNU
1,300
What Micro
VNU
1,300
Your Computer
IPC
L200
Micro User
Database
1,200
Datalink
VNU
1,200
America’s top 10 computer magazines—by advertising revenue, 1983
Title
Publisher
Revenue $m
Ad pages
Byte
McGraw Hill
28.8
4,394
Personal Computing
Hayden
23.9
2,306
PC Magazine
Zifl-Davis
15.0
4,225
Creative Computing
Ziff-Davis
11.9
2,159
Computers and Electronics
Ziff-Davis
11.7
686
Into World
CW Communications
10.1
2,611
PC World
PC World Comms
8.2
1,966
Compute!
ABC Publishing
7.7
1,787
Popular Computing
McGraw-Hill
7.4
1,428
Sottalk/Apple
Softalk
7.3
1,947
Source: Adscope
most of the money will go on
television commercials.
The problem for computer-
magazine publishers, therefore,
is to find the readers advertisers
want to reach. About 70% of the
advertising in computer maga¬
zines now comes through adver¬
tising agencies. Unlike the often
unsophisticated electronics engi¬
neers and games-writers who
placed many of the advertise¬
ments a few years ago, the agen¬
cies aim at specific readers. Un¬
fortunately, many businessmen
shun computer magazines be¬
cause they cannot tell a microchip
from a small french fry.
One solution to the publishers’
problem is to put computer mag¬
azines on controlled circulation—
ie, to give them away to the
readers thought to be of special
interest to advertisers. Scientific
Computing and Automation is a
recent free-sheet, sent to 70,000
scientists and administrators in
America who use computers in
laboratories.
In Britain, Leisure Electronics
Trader restricts its circulation to
8,500 high-street retailers and
distributors of computer and
electronic games and toys. Soft¬
ware File, another of 1983’s new¬
comers and little more than a
directory of software available in
THE ECONOMIST NOVEMBER 10,1984
Hill’s Byte, is also among the
most technical.
Like other successful computer
magazines. Byte has a problem
that causes many of its younger
rivals to turn green with envy: it
has to reduce the number of ad¬
vertising pages it carries because
disgruntled readers can no longer
find the editorial amid all the
glossy photographs of new prod¬
ucts. Byte made a profit of $9m in
1983 on sales of $36.6m. That was
equivalent to more than 7% of
the group net income of its own¬
er, McGraw-Hill, the books-to-
broadcasting conglomerate.
Big Byte
Byte is aimed at owners and users
of microcomputers. Its serious¬
ness is indicated by its subtitle,
the Small Systems Journal, and
its hefty $3.50/£2.10 cover price.
It has a loyal circulation of more
than 400,000 for each monthly
issue in America and 50,000-plus
in Britain.
In more senses than one. Byte
is the industry’s heavyweight. It
regularly runs to 500 or more
pages, 60% of which are advertis¬
ing (and which can cost up to
$6,000 a page—almost twice as
much as Britain’s best-selling
computer magazine can com¬
Source: VNU. 'Adjusted to A4 format
mand). Byte has been known to
run 400 continuous pages of ad¬
vertisements. Last year, its ad¬
vertising revenues were $28.8m,
79% of its total revenues. One of
its issues carried around 800
pages, a record for any magazine.
Byte is now slimming by raising
its advertising rates. It increased
its advertising revenues in the
first six months of this year by
19.2%, to $14.3m, while cutting
its advertisement pages by 6.1%.
Some way behind Byte come
the magazines from the Ziff-Da¬
vis group. It too has raised its
advertising rates and publishes its
most successful magazines more
frequently. Its PC Magazine,
once a monthly, now appears
every fortnight. That increased
the total number of advertising
pages by 66% in the first half of
this year. With higher rates as
well, its total advertising reve¬
nues rose by 350%, to $9m.
The big publishing corpora¬
tions are increasingly dominating
the top of the computer-maga¬
zine market in both Britain and
America. McGraw-Hill, owner
of Byte, has another top-10 ad¬
vertising-revenue earner in Popu¬
lar Computing. But one of the big
boys’ most effective methods for
staying on top has been to buy
the best of the torrent of new
publications coming from the
publishing industry’s equivalent
of the Silicon Valley garage.
McGraw-Hill acquired Byte in
1979 when it bought it from Mr
Wayne Greene, who founded the
magazine four years before. A
wealthier Mr Greene went back
to scratch and set up a new em¬
pire—Micro-computing, inCider
(for users of Apple machines,
geddit?), 80 Micro (for Tandy
owners) and the ill-fated Jr (for
IBM PC Jr users) and Desktop
Computing. I'hese he sold in
1983 to CW Communications,
owners of Infoworld, for $16m.
Computer publishing has
spawned another giant. Three of
America’s top five revenue-earn¬
ing computer magazines, PC
Magazine, Creative Computing
and Computers and Electronics,
are still owned by one man, Mr
William Ziff. Although the busi¬
ness and general titles in his Ziff-
Davis group are up for sale for
$500m, Mr Ziff plans to keep his
13 computer titles.
The big three in British com¬
puter publishing are Reed Inter¬
national’s I PC subsidiary, the
Dutch-owned VNU and East
Midland Allied Press (EMAP).
Each has a big-seller in the Brit¬
ish lists.
IPC’s success-story is Comput¬
er Weekly, an 18-year-old tabloid
that is said to reach one in 10
British businessmen. It has a con¬
trolled circulation of 112,000. Its
big rival is Computing, born in
1973 and bought by VNU from
Haymarket Publishing in 1980 for
£7m. Edited by Mr Richard
Sharpe, Computing has a slightly
smaller circulation than Comput¬
er Weekly, but is regarded as
being better designed and runs a
glossy supplement each week.
With a circulation of 120,000-
plus, IPC’s monthly Your Com¬
puter is the best-selling hobbyist
magazine. A third of its sales are
outside Britain. The hobbyist
magazine with the biggest adver¬
tising revenue is Personal Com¬
puter World, which VNU bought
from Bunch Books two years
ago. PCW has graveyards of 120
pages of continuous advertising.
Net quite in Byte’s class, but they
help bring in VNU more than
£2m a year in revenues.
Mr Graham Andrews, manag¬
ing director of VNU’s British
operations, says that his company
has no plans for more hobbyist
titles. Its next big launches will be
magazines for computer-using
businessmen. VNU and EMAP
also make money from computer
shows, cashing in on their maga¬
zines’ names. Personal Computer
World's show is the best-attend¬
ed computer exhibition in
Europe.
The trend towards a business
audience is clear. EMAP’s sales
from computer magazines in the
year to March, 1984, were £llm,
up 70% on a year earlier. While
sales of its hobbyist titles rose by
21%, those of its business ones
were up by 59%.
81
