amiga-news.de - Statement from Thendic about April, Mai and teamwork in the Amiga market

04.Dec.2002
Raquel Velasco and Bill Buck (ANF) Statement from Thendic about April, Mai and teamwork in the Amiga market
Raquel Velasco and Bill Buck of Thendic France sent us an email to gain the attention for an important comment they both posted at the comments of amiga.org (see title link). For simplicity we repeat the statement which they gave about the collaboration opportunities within the Amiga market:

OK, last word before Aachen Show....

The is no Mai without April. The Articia does not work as promoted. There. We have said it. Everything that has been promised for the AmigaOne and the Pegasos will not work without April -- April is *mostly* a "patch." With April the Articia will work as advertised, without April the Articia will not. Betatesters of the A1 and the "Betatester (Pegasos)" know that there are difficulties.

In September and October bplan developed the "patch" with Mai. There is no other patch for the Articia and there was no other assistance from anyone else in creating it. This is why the Pegasos, A1 and Teron are not available in quantity and why they will not be until the patch is mounted on the respective PCBs and shipped.

Check out the estimated shipping dates at the YDL site. Do you think they will get anywhere else sooner? Where is the biggest market? Is it MorphOS and OS4, or is it LinuxPPC? Where do you think Mai will focus? Not here (MorphOS/OS4)! Our sales commitments for the first 1000 Pegasos went 817 to Linux and the rest to this community (less two for OpenBSD and two for OpenBeOS).

Mai does not care about this market. They care about the Linux market. They want to sell the Articia and their board. They make chips and want to sell them. LinuxPPC is a bigger market for them. That will be their new focus. We are the poor stepchild now. Please forget all the delusions about the new Amiga or the Pegasos that will re-conquer the world when the hardware shows up. If we want success this is going to be hard work and a long haul.

In the meanwhile, you won't have to worry about MorphOS or OS4 being pirated by someone here now. There is a whole new world of potential users with an OpenSource/Freeware mentality that is about to consume this market and make it more irrelevant. This is a post-Napster world.... and Napster was only the beginning. Individual "freedom" has replaced respect for others. Something is wrong with this picture and it needs to be fixed, but it will not happen with dongles.

If this community wants a future it needs to start working together. We are spending plenty of money to make the Pegasos successful, but it is not our final focus. We are a niche market -- both OS4 and MorphOS. We need unity if we want to be more than a lingering historical footnote.

The Mai story is not over yet. The first patch is not enough. We figured this out in November when Mai was scurrying back to Tiawan to make what they thought would be the final solution. It is not. There are more problems. We finally solved all this a week and a half ago. Plus, we have added a couple of other features that are better accomplished in hardware than software (and don't believe a few lines of code will make the first patch work). If YDL sets off on their current course, they will "crash and burn" in a month after they finally introduce the product. The Linux market is unforgiving when it comes to hardware bugs. With all the success they will seem to achieve their liability will grow correspondingly.

Before you think this is another marketing stunt, here is something new. We know what Eyetech pays for the Teron/A1; we know what the A1 distributors pay. We would be willing to match the prices all around less 5% and provide an immediate solution to the community. We make the Pegasos. Eyetech does not. We have many of the same distributors. We can compensate Allan Redhouse through his success (something he is clearly about to loose with YDL Teron pricing). Hyperion too. Oh yes, you want to buy a G4 A1? Wake up people! Read the disclaimers on the YDL site. Do you understand what needs to happen before this will? There is a Pegasos G4 now. The question is not how fast the processor *can* work, the issue is how fast the processor *does* work! Let's get better organized. We are about to be crushed.

If we pulled eveyone together on this we might even honor those $50 coupons!

This market and community is in complete confusion. There is no leadership or vision and we need both fast or we can forget it. This is a public statement in good faith to Eyetech and Hyperion. Allan and Ben are formidible marketing opponents. We can forget the past if you can. We need to get into the same boat. Amiga Inc. has lost its leadership mantel. Selling coupons, promoting unachievable concepts and making wild claims about the next deal have worn tired and false. Fortunately, all have not blindly followed this route and Hyperion and Eyetech have a solid agreement in place that protects them in the event of Amiga Inc bankruptcy. And, before you think this is a "group hug" thing, we have paid our King County, Washigton legal counsel a retainer. We will commence legal action against Amiga Inc. this month. This is not some "get legal" BS. This is business and the Amiga Inc. management do not understand what business is. They "blew it" and we have had enough of their interference in our future.

The whole Mai/YDL collaboration has changed the situation dramatically. We hope this statement helps you understand this better.

We will give Hyperion a board. We will support the A1 Betatesters as we have our own. We don't have to trade sources or get Ralph having a beer with Ben, but we could all move ahead this way. Eyetech can certify the Pegasos to meet Amiga specifications -- they are positioned to do this. Hyperion and Eyetech can promote OS4. Great. We might even develop some collaborative efforts quickly. We should.

Things are moving very fast. We have alot to do. Thanks for reading this post and please think about it carefully. See you in Aachen!

Sincerely,

Raquel and Bill (ps)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2002, 11:35] [Comments: 0]
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