Raquel Velasco & Bill Buck / Genesi's Clarifications
From Amiga.org
(post #52) :
"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"
Thendic-France /
Genesi
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Last Update: 21/02/2003
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