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© 1997-2006
Gareth Knight
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Escom Snippets

The Escom chain refused to sell the Amiga in their retail stores

-Chaos reigned during the Escom period through confusion whether theAmiga would be sold through their retail chain. Announcements were made and then contradicted indicating that Amiga Technologies and Escom did not see eye to eye on how to sell the Amiga. When the Amiga eventually made it into the stores only the low-end market was represented, in the form of an A1200 showing the Amiga boot screen, hidden at the back of the store. The one occasion I saw anything else running was when the Chester store demonstrated the only A1200HD (Hard Drive) bundle they had on stock. No demonstration of the games or productivity software bundled with the machine. All that was shown was the 4-colour Amiga Workbench. Many Amiga owners were also taken by the unfriendliness of the staff that would swiftly persuade perspective buyers in the direction of the latest Windows PC, in a few cases even lying. One outraged Amiga fan was told by a store assistant,
"The Amiga is only around for Christmas, then it will go out of production.
If you want a machine with a future, you are better off with an Escom PC."
Amiga Technologies problem with Escom was exasperated by the fact that independent retailers refused to sell the Amiga, as the money would find it back to a competitor (Escom, in case you hadn't guessed) in the high street. At this point the Amiga was arguably at its lowest ebb, causing many to give up on the Amiga market. 

Advertising

The lean days of Commodore left Amiga owner desperate for any advertising from the parent company. It therefore came as a breath of fresh air when it was discovered Escom advertised in the German national press, through full page ads and inserts. At the time Escom bought the Amiga they had their own magazine, 'De ESCOM Magazine EXTRA' (German) and 'Escom Magazine' (English). This was little more than an advertisment brochure. However, the Amiga did make into the magazine a few times during 1996, exposing it to PC buyers. Some Amiga adverts from the magazine can be found here
A1200 Released Again
After months of broken promises it was finally announced that the A1200 was back in manufacture. Inviting the press, Amiga Technologies took them to a plant just outside Bordeaux owned by Solectron Corporation. Just 3 months after Amiga Technologies contacted Solectron the first of a new generation of Amiga hardware was completed (13th June - 13th September), showing that the Amiga was no longer restricted by its Commodore past. 
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Last Update: 1/11/2001
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